Without clean water, sanitation and hygiene, millions of women and girls will miss out on school or work and be at greater risk of poor health, violence and abuse

on
16 May 2022
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Tim Wainwright, Chief Executive, WaterAid UK, said:

“The focus is, quite rightly, on women and girls, but without access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, millions will miss out on school or the chance to work and will be at greater risk of poor health, violence and abuse.

“If the Government – which has cut spending on water, sanitation and hygiene by more than two-thirds since 2018 – doesn’t get the foundations right, the International Development Strategy will be built on quicksand when it comes to women and girls.

“The Government must aim to secure basic services that provide dignity, good health and opportunity for all.”

 

One in three healthcare facilities across the globe – and half of those in poorer countries – lack handwashing facilities.

Unclean births account for 26% of new-born deaths and 11% of maternal mortality, or more than one million deaths each year.

 

ENDS


For more information, please contact:

Anna Ford, News Manager, [email protected] or the WaterAid media line 24 hours a day +44 (0)7887 521 552, [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and nearly 29 million people with decent toilets.

For more information, visit our website wateraid.org/uk, follow us on Twitter @WaterAidUK, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress, or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

  • 771 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.[1]
  • 1.7 billion people in the world – more than one in five – do not have a decent toilet of their own.[2]
  • Around 290,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's more than 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.[3]
  • Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.[4]
  • Just £15 can provide one person with clean water.[5]
  1. WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
  2. WHO/UNICEF (2021) Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2020. Joint Monitoring Programme. Geneva: World Health Organisation.
  3. WaterAid calculations based on: Prüss-Ustün A, et al. (2019). Burden of Disease from Inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Selected Adverse Health Outcomes: An Updated Analysis with a Focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. vol 222, no 5, pp 765-777. AND The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (2020) Global Burden of Disease Study 2019. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.
  4. World Health organization (2012) Global costs and benefits of drinking-water supply and sanitation interventions to reach the MDG target and universal coverage
  5. www.wateraid.org

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