Water and Sanitation

Safe water is fundamental to human life, yet more than 1 billion people do not have access to it.

Another 2.6 billion live without basic sanitation. As a result, thousands of children die every day from diarrhea and other water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases and many more suffer and are weakened by illness.

Water touches every aspect of children's lives.

• More than 5,000 children are dying every day as a result of water-borne diseases.
• Children - and particularly girls - are denied their right to education because they are busy fetching water, deterred by the lack of separate and decent sanitation facilities in schools, or too sick to learn.
• Women are forced to spend large parts of their day fetching water.
• Poor farmers and wage earners are less productive due to illness, and national economies suffer.
• Without safe water and sanitation, sustainable development is impossible.  

More than 1.2 billion people gained access to improved drinking water between 1990 and 2004 through UNICEF's efforts.

For over 40 years, UNICEF has delivered safe water and sanitation to help children survive and thrive. We have taken the lead in more than 90 countries around the world, investing heavily in water supplies and sanitation facilities for schools and communities, and promoting safe hygiene practices. And we are often the first one on the ground in emergencies, providing urgent relief to communities and nations threatened by disrupted water supplies and disease.

Our water and sanitation projects are sustainable.

UNICEF has its finger on the pulse of the community and ensures that everybody is involved in the design, implementation and maintenance of water and sanitation projects. We foster community ownership by honoring the expertise of the local population, and recognise that women are the experts on what kind of facilities will best serve them and their families. And we are innovative. We designed the reliable and durable deep-well hand pump, which can be used to supply a whole community with clean, safe drinking water.

Our water and sanitation projects make a difference.

Providing water, separate and private sanitation facilities, and hygienic environments in schools is vastly improving the health and educational outcomes of millions of children, and opening school doors for girls, who are often kept away by the indignity of having no privacy.  Our commitment to securing household water and sanitation has freed girls and women from the long hours spent fetching water and reduced the incidence of illness, resulting in higher levels of productivity and increased income earning capacity for families. In fact, for each dollar spent on water and sanitation projects, the projected return on investment is from $3 to $34