Water & Sanitation

Description

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programming is a critical intervention that alleviates poverty and improves human health. WASH programs manage and improve access to water resources, reduce open defecation by constructing adequate toilets, and provide hygiene education and kits such as handwashing stations. Per U.S. law and policy, program implementers target their work to the poorest countries with the greatest need.

What does it buy?

Funds are provided to partners through grants, cooperative agreements, and other mechanisms to provide access to safe drinking water, construct and drill wells in rural communities, build toilets and handwashing stations in schools, teach and educate communities about the need for using a toilet and handwashing to protect health and safety, and strengthen local countries’ capacity to leverage domestic resources.

Why is it important?

• In FY 2017, USAID WASH activities in 41 countries helped 3.6 million people gain access to improved water and 3.2 million gain access to improved sanitation.
• For every dollar invested in water and sanitation, there is a $4.30 return in the form of reduced health care costs for individuals and society.
• 2.2 billion people still lack access to a safely managed water source, 785 million people lack access to even a basic drinking water service, and 578 million people have no choice but to drink dirty water.
• 2 billion people don’t have a decent toilet of their own, and nearly 10% have no choice but to defecate in the open. Open defecation is an affront to dignity, a safety issue for women and girls, and a risk to children’s nutrition and community health.
• Globally, 31% of schools don’t have clean water, and 34% lack decent toilets, which has devastating impacts on a child’s ability to learn and stay in school, particularly for menstruating girls.
• Each year, improved water, sanitation, and hygiene could prevent as many as 842,000 deaths—1,000 children every day—from diarrheal diseases.

Why should Americans care?

• A report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shows that “water problems will contribute to instability in states important to U.S. national security interests.” The report also highlights the importance of U.S. leadership in moving developing countries toward sound water management policies at the local, national, and regional levels.
• Investment in WASH programming enhances U.S. national security by working to prevent pandemic disease and conflict over water resources. It also addresses governance issues, opens new markets for U.S. exports, aligns market access, and promotes U.S. job creation.

What more could be done?

• Additional investment could improve service delivery and overall access, as well as governance and capacity building, which could accelerate the rate of transition of developing countries from donor dependence.
• Targeted investments could allow WASH interventions to be included in other sector programs—such as food security, nutrition, maternal and child health, and building resilience to extreme weather events—leading to more development gains.
• Additional funding could provide more healthcare workers and services, mitigating disease outbreaks, including Ebola and cholera. Insufficient access to safe water and proper sanitation dramatically increases the risk of a cholera outbreak.
• Additional funding could help people gain or maintain access to safely managed water, helping to stabilize areas, decreasing fragility and improving lives.