How did you start your day today? With a shower, followed by a hot coffee perhaps? You may have washed up your breakfast bowl, gone to the toilet and washed your hands to set yourself up for the day.

We depend on clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene so much while going about our everyday routines to help us keep clean, comfortable and healthy. But can you imagine how different life would be without these three things?

That's the reality for millions of people we work for and with, who are living in poverty and excluded from mainstream services. Without clean water, people – often women and girls – have no choice but to walk long distances to fetch and drink dirty water. This impacts their health, their education and their livelihoods. And climate change is making their situation worse; every day, already fragile water supplies are at even greater risk of disappearing completely.

It might not seem obvious that the three go hand in hand. But without decent toilets, water sources can become contaminated. And without clean water, we can’t have good hygiene practices that stop the spread of disease. We’re not here for short-term fixes. With local communities we find sustainable solutions so that people can change their lives for good.

Supporters like you have helped us reach over 28.5 million people with clean water around the world, but we won’t stop until everyone, everywhere has it.

Devit, 5, washes his hands with soap and clean water outside a toilet block in Kampong Chhnang Province, Cambodia, Feb 2023.;
Image: WaterAid/ Tariq Hawari

It’s a little-known fact that 1 in 5 people don't have their own toilet. Slowly, we're making progress, but with your help, we can speed things up.

Kena Mondol (55) lives with his wife and children in the Munda Community. Kaliganj, Satkhira, Bangladesh. December 2022.;
Image: WaterAid/ Fabeha Monir

Together with clean water and decent toilets, good hygiene practices can dramatically improve – and even save – people’s lives.

Maida washes her hands at her school’s washing facilities built by WaterAid Bangladesh in collaboration with Lindex to promote good hygiene practices. At Gosatra Dr. Jalilur Rahman High School, in Gazipur, Bangladesh. March 2023;
Image: WaterAid/ Drik/ Farzana Hossen

We work with communities who've been hit hardest by climate change to make sure they have a reliable supply of water and decent toilets, whatever the weather.

Nadongo Federesi, 28, Technical Supervisor, after checking the working condition of the water supply pump station, Buyende Water Supply Scheme, Buyende District, Uganda, April 2023.;
Image: WaterAid/ James Kiyimba

Women and girls are disproportionately affected by a lack of clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

K Vaishnavi (15) stands with her friends near a handwashing station at her school in Rajagopalapuram village, Satyavedu, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, India. March 2021.;
Image: WaterAid/ Srishti Bhardwaj

Clean and safe drinking-water, sanitation, and hygiene are crucial to human health and wellbeing.

Saida Mugaba, 36, midwife, carrying new-born baby Hakiramu whose mother she suppported to deliver, Nkondo Health Centre III, Buyende District, June 2023.;
Image: WaterAid/ James Kiyimba