Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

Diarrhea is both preventable and treatable, yet it remains a leading cause of death among children under five, killing approximately 1,300 girls and boys every day. In conflict zones, children are nearly 20 times more likely to die from diarrheal disease than from the conflict itself.

Nearly 60 per cent of diarrhea-related deaths are attributed to unsafe drinking water and poor hygiene and sanitation. Simply washing hands with soap can reduce the risk of diarrhea by 40 per cent, and protect against many other illnesses—in fact, the number of annual deaths from diarrhea among children under five decreased by 61 per cent between 2000 and 2019. Using basic WASH interventions, many more lives can be saved.

Even as progress is made, we see deep inequalities related to water and sanitation on regional and national levels. For example, 3 per cent of the global population (207 million people) currently travel more than 30 minutes to collect water—two thirds of them live in sub-Saharan Africa with the burden falling disproportionately on women and girls, often affecting their health and physical safety. Imbalances within countries are also common: between 2000 and 2017, basic water coverage in rural Haiti increased among the richest but decreased among the poorest, widening the gap between them.

Disparities like these are compounded by growing challenges like climate change, political instability, economic crises, and the yet unknown long-term impacts of COVID-19.

In reporting on the state of water, sanitation and hygiene in school settings, particularly in the context of COVID-19, UNICEF revealed that at the start of the pandemic, one in three schools worldwide had limited or no drinking water, 818 million children lacked basic handwashing services at school and 698 million went without basic sanitation facilities.

Poor sanitation poses a particular threat for women and girls. According to the World Bank, at least 500 million women and girls are lacking a safe, clean, private facility to manage their menstrual hygiene, and this affects girls’ education—a meta-analysis by the World Bank found that a quarter of adolescent girls in India did not attend school during menstruation because of inadequate toilets.

Sanitation deficits cost the global economy nearly US$223 billion in 2015; however, a WHO study calculated a global return of US$5.50 for every dollar spent in sanitation—seen in lower health costs, more productivity and fewer premature deaths.

Achieving universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene would bring remarkable change, with global reductions in waterborne disease, better nutrition outcomes, hundreds of daily deaths prevented—and the reality of a world that upholds the dignity, safety and future prospects of an entire generation.