Hygiene

But almost 2 billion people lack the soap and/or water they need to wash their hands at home*, meaning lives are put at risk every day – simply because people don't have access to the very basics.

Poor hygiene means children get sick and miss school, adults can't work to support their families, and patients are at risk in health centres. Whole communities miss out on opportunities to improve their lives.

In fact, many get no chance at life at all. Every minute a newborn baby dies from infection caused by a lack of clean water and an unclean environment**.

Hygiene can be hard to define as it covers so many behaviours, from personal hygiene like handwashing, food hygiene and menstrual hygiene, to the availability of clean water and decent toilets. Some groups of people are also more affected by poor hygiene – especially people with disabilities, women and girls, and babies.

We know through experience that there's no one-size-fits-all approach, and simply explaining the importance of good hygiene isn't enough to make lasting change happen. That's why we listen to people to understand what really drives them to take up new hygiene habits. 

When a community gets clean water and decent toilets for the first time they also have the power to change their hygiene habits. They can keep themselves and their environment clean, stay healthy and stop diseases spreading, and live dignified lives.

13-year-old Nampoina lives in a remote village in Madagascar. Before her community got clean water, there was nothing for her to drink at school. After the two-hour walk home, she'd spend her spare time after school fetching water for her family, leaving her exhausted and with little energy for anything else.