In 2017 the World Health Organisation estimated that 1 in 3, or 2.3 billion people, are still without sanitation facilities, whilst 844 million people still lack access to safe and clean drinking water. Lack of sanitation contributes to about 700,000 child deaths every year due to diarrhea, concentrated in developing countries.
WASH is a collective term for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – relating to access to safe, clean water, improved sanitation facilities and basic level of hygiene maintained. These issues are all highly interconnected, and so are combined together within this targeted ‘WASH’ approach to represent a growing sector. The benefits of having access to an improved drinking water source can only be fully realised when there is also access to improved sanitation and good hygiene practices.
Universal, affordable and sustainable access to WASH is a key public health issue with international development, and is the focus of Sustainable Development Goal 6.
Education and training on WASH is mandatory as part of our Safe Water Projects. With the organisations and charities with which we partner, hands-on education and training sessions are ran with the communities in which boreholes are rehabilitated and occasionally in local schools. They highlight the importance of washing equipment such as plates and cutlery with soap, personal daily hygiene routine including soap, ending open defecation and collecting water in clean and secure containers to ensure the clean water is not contaminated amongst the diverse topics covers. Demonstrations are given and then groups encouraged to participate and share information amongst their communities.
Our WASH campaigns are an essential component of our Safe Water Projects, ensuring they are high-impact for the communities involved and directly contribute to SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation.
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