Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH)

Access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is essential for global health, economic development, gender equality, food security and nutrition, climate resilience, and conflict prevention. While significant progress has been made, one in three people—or 2 billion people globally—still live without access to safe drinking water. Further, 1.9 billion people do not have a toilet and 2.3 billion cannot wash their hands inside their homes.

WASH is the first line of defense in slowing the spread of most disease outbreaks, such as the flu, diarrhea, cholera, and Ebola. Development efforts are made more effective and sustainable over the long term when they address WASH, as it is key to improving maternal and child health, preventing neglected tropical diseases, and addressing food and nutrition security. Yet, over 480 million children lack access to any handwashing facilities in their schools and only 32% of healthcare facilities in the least developed countries have basic hygiene service.

As early as 2025, half the world’s population will live in water-stressed areas. Limited access to safe drinking water worsens humanitarian emergencies: children living in conflict areas are almost three times more likely to die from diarrheal diseases caused by a lack of safe WASH than by direct violence. More resilient and sustainable WASH solutions are needed to support ongoing development programs and reach high-risk communities, leading to healthier populations worldwide.

Fast Facts

• 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water and over 3.6 billion people do not have access to safely managed sanitation services.
• In the least developed countries, only 53% of health care facilities have basic water service
• From F.Y. 2008 through F.Y. 2020 WASH programming at USAID has led to:
  • 59.5 million people gaining access to a sustainable drinking water source.
  • 44.6 million people gaining access to a sustainable sanitation service.
• Access to WASH can reduce diarrheal disease, preventing the deaths of 297,000 children under 5 each year.
• Appropriate hand hygiene prevents up to 50% of avoidable infections acquired during healthcare delivery, including those affecting the health workforce.

Key U.S. Legislation, Strategies & Programs

Legislation:

• The Senator Paul Simon Water for the Poor Act of 2005
• The Senator Paul Simon Water for the World Act of 2014

Strategies:

• U.S. Global Water Strategy
• White House Action Plan on Global Water Security

Programs:

• USAID’s Water and Sanitation program
• CDC’s Global Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene program
• MCC’s Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation program