The crisis
703 million people worldwide live without clean water close to home. That shouldn’t be normal. Nor should the fact that 1.5 billion people do not have a decent toilet of their own.
Diarrhoea caused by dirty water, poor toilets and insufficient hygiene kills almost 800 children a day. A lack of clean water, decent toilets, and good hygiene keeps kids out of school, adults out of work and traps people in poverty.
Together, we can reach everyone, everywhere with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene within a generation – and change normal for good.
Together we can unlock people’s potential with clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. Without all three, people can’t live dignified, healthy lives. With all three, they can unlock their potential, break free from poverty, and change their lives for good.
With clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, children are born healthier. They get the chance to go to school and grow up to become adults. Women and men get to earn a living. Whole communities start to thrive. It sounds normal and it should be.
In a world with so many competing priorities, WaterAid remains resolutely focused on tackling these three essentials because they transform people’s lives for good.