Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Globally, unsafe drinking water, poor access to appropriate sanitation facilities and inadequate handwashing contribute significantly to childhood illness and death. Diarrhoea alone is responsible for 11% of global child deaths. Many more children suffer weakness and malnutrition as a result of parasites or environmental enteropathy, a sub-clinical infection of the stomach that interferes with the absorption of nutrients. Save the Children’s WASH programs aim to reduce diarrhoea and other diseases in children under the age of five, and reduce chronic malnutrition in children under the age of two. Save the Children collaborates with governments, civil society and communities to develop market-oriented approaches to improve water quality, encourage the safe disposal of excrement, and promote the adoption of improved hygiene practices.