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Clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene should be part of everyone's life. Everyone, everywhere. These three essentials keep us healthy and allow us to life dignified lives. We often call them 'The Big 3', the big, irrefutable services we all need to thrive. 

Access Denied

But today, millions of people do not enjoy these basics, simply because of who they are, where they live or how much money they have. The impact is devastating. Without access to The Big 3 people are trapped, in terms of their health, education and financial security. 

Fitter, happier and more productive

This is a large but solveable problem. By working together, the dream of clean water for everyone, everywhere will become the reality. This in turn will free people up from the task of having to collect water each morning. Women and girls will particularly benefit from this development. This extra time opens doors, doors to an education, to jobs, to farming. It opens doors to economic vitality and financial independence. 

Working together, the world has made huge progress in improving access to water and toilets.

For example, in 2000, 81% of us had clean water; by 2015 that figure had risen to almost 90%. In 2015, 69% had a decent toilet, compared to 59% in 2000.  

However, there remains much work to do. One in nine people, 844 million, don’t have clean water close to home and one in three people, 2.3 billion, are still without a decent toilet of their own. It is usually the world's most vulnerable communities.

Who has their access denied? And why?

While most people globally do have clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, millions have their access denied. Around the world, it is the same people who are forgotten or ignored.  

People living in extreme poverty, women and girls, children and young people, older people, people with disabilities, and the hardest to reach communities too often are overlooked while others thrive. Because: 

• they lack money or status, so are excluded from discussions and not heard or understood by decision-makers.  

• they live in a remote community or ‘illegal’ settlement, like a slum, so aren’t included in policies and plans. 

• their government lacks the expertise, money or will to reach them. 

Whether this discrimination is intentional or not, these people are denied an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure. This locks in inequality and stops change happening. 

Around the world, income inequality is on the rise. (Source) The poorest 10% earn just 2-7% of the total global income. In developing countries, inequality is on the rise and has increased by 11%. Everywhere there is growing awareness that income, gender and racial inequality and holding some people back while others thrive. 

To reverse this trend, to achieve a more equal world for everyone everywhere, it’s the poorest and most excluded people we need to reach. Because the development and prosperity of any community, region or country relies on all its people having access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. 

People living in poverty are most often denied access to clean water, toilets and hygiene. Having no choice but to drink and use dirty water, and not having a decent toilet, they are at risk of deadly diarrheal diseases and frequently sick. Spending hours each day collecting water, they have little time left for school or work, and stay trapped in poverty. Unable to pay taxes and with no disposable income, they are not prioritized by their governments. Ironically, denied access to services, the poorest people can end up paying more for water from street vendors or to use privately-run toilets. When clean water is scarce, there can be conflict between powerful groups who need it for commercial purposes and people in poverty looking to meet their basic daily requirements. 

Women and girls are particularly affected when communities lack clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. Typically responsible for unpaid domestic work, they are expected to collect water from unsafe sources like rivers, streams and holes in the ground. Carrying full water containers, as heavy as 40lbs, on their heads or backs leaves its mark on them physically, contorting their spines and leading to problems in childbirth and later in life. Collecting water – often for hours every day – can make them late for school or unable to work, putting them at a disadvantage to men and boys. And drinking, cooking and washing with this dirty water exposes them to deadly diarrheal diseases every day.  

Not having a decent toilet at home or in public places can be particularly difficult for women. It can put them at increased risk of harassment and physical and sexual violence while going to the toilet in the open. It makes managing their periods much more challenging, causing girls to miss school and women to stay home from work. Without clean water, soap or a toilet, keeping themselves and their family healthy is incredibly difficult.  

Too often, women and girls are excluded from decision-making around water and toilets, because of traditional gender roles and power structures. Those in control of designing, supplying and funding water and sanitation services are more likely to be men. As a result, improvements to services fail to address women’s perspectives and daily challenges, and they continue to be denied access to opportunities.  

Children and young people are at risk from the day they are born. Diarrhea caused by dirty water and a lack of decent toilets kills a child under five every two minutes. Without clean water or decent toilets at home or school, it’s hard to stay in class and get an education. Children are often too sick to go to school, dangerously ill with repeated bouts of diarrhea. The impacts are long-lasting, holding them back for the rest of their lives. Diarrhea puts children at risk of malnutrition and stunting at a crucial time in their physical and mental development. And missing school means they are denied opportunities to achieve their potential and find meaningful work as adults. 

People with disabilities can be disadvantaged when their community lacks clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. They may have to rely on family and friends to help them collect water or find a discreet place to go to the toilet, instead of being able to live independent lives. And even when water, sanitation and hygiene services have been improved, they can still be denied access. Water points or toilets without handrails, ramps, or room to turn a wheelchair can leave people with physical disabilities with no choice but to sacrifice their safety and dignity – for example, having to crawl on the toilet floor. Blind or partially sighted people can be forced to use their hands to find the squat hole, often in filthy conditions. More likely to live in poverty than able-bodied people, they may struggle to afford services. And where there is prejudice and stigma around physical and learning disabilities, people can be excluded from discussions about the design and development of services, denied the opportunity to make their voices heard and have their requirements considered.  

Older people (older women especially) are more likely to live in extreme poverty with no income to support themselves. Collecting water from far away and carrying it home, or going to the toilet outdoors, can be particularly challenging for them because of limited mobility and strength. These daily tasks make it more difficult to live independently – they may be reliant on family and friends to bring them water or guide them to a discreet spot to go to the toilet. Older people are often left out of community discussions about installing taps and toilets, because of stigma or accessibility issues. Where this is the case, their valuable experience is wasted, and they continue to be disadvantaged.  

People can be excluded from services because of their ethnicity, race, nationality, language, religion, caste or sexuality. These minority groups are sometimes forced to carry out the most low-paid and stigmatized water and sanitation roles, like ‘manual scavenging’ (emptying toilet pits by hand), risking their lives while being denied their rights. Social and cultural power structures in the community can mean people’s voices go unheard when decisions that affect them are made.  

Sometimes, whole communities are disadvantaged. Hard to reach communities,4 like remote villages and urban slums, can be more expensive to connect to water and sanitation services than others. Isolated villages can be difficult to get construction materials to, despite the communities’ best efforts. Improvements often break down because parts and skilled tradespeople are not available locally. The lack of infrastructure like roads and electricity in informal slums can present similar challenges.  

Being far away from where decisions are made, or having their community declared unofficial or ‘illegal’, makes people easy to forget or ignore. Even if they are considered, the government or private company responsible for their services may not think it’s financially viable to reach them. People in these communities are often left to rely on ‘informal’ services – in many cases paying more for water than people with piped connections and paying a premium for privately run toilets. This denies these hard to reach communities an equal chance to escape poverty and prosper.  

These are some of the people and communities most disadvantaged when denied access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. Many people belong to more than one of these groups – for example, an older woman in a remote community – multiplying the challenges in staying healthy, getting educated and being financially secure. 

We work hard to make sure everyone benefits from access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, and no-one is disadvantaged.

We install taps and toilets that are accessible to the whole community. We bring people together, including those who have been excluded, to challenge taboos, address unequal power structures, and provide opportunities. And we work with governments and businesses to help them deliver services for all.

When we improve access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene in a community, we work hard to make sure everyone benefits, and no-one is disadvantaged. We raise awareness of the fact that water and sanitation are human rights and must be available to all.

We make sure the taps and toilets we help install in communities are accessible to the whole community. This means:

• children can access clean water and go to school.
• women and girls have decent toilets and washing facilities to keep themselves healthy on their periods.
• older people and people with disabilities have specially designed facilities, so they can practise good hygiene with dignity.

In the community:

• We bring people together, including those who are typically excluded from decision-making, such as women and people with disabilities, supporting them to understand their rights and use their voices.
• We challenge the assumptions and taboos that have led to some people being left out.

• We help women, people with disabilities and older people access opportunities through training, becoming involved in the design of services and active members of water and sanitation committees that keep the water flowing and toilets working. This contributes to breaking down unequal power structures and raises their position in the community. We link these committees with utility companies and local governments, so they can get support when needed.

We work with governments and businesses:

• to help them include whole communities, especially those hardest to reach, in their work, from the planning stages to the day the taps turn on and beyond.
• to carry out research and accessibility audits into how and why some people are more disadvantaged by a lack of access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.
• to share information and evidence of successful approaches to scale up our work and benefit even more people.

Importantly, we do all this together with people living in poverty and those who are too often excluded.

Only by challenging inequalities wherever we find them, can we achieve a world where no one has their access denied. Not just to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene – but to health, education and financial security.

What are we doing to make access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone everywhere?

We work at every level to improve people’s access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene and reduce inequalities. By addressing the causes not the symptoms and empowering people to overcome barriers we can help bring about lasting change to make sure no one has their access denied.

We work at every level – with governments, businesses and communities – to improve people’s access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene and reduce inequalities. Our approach goes beyond the challenges faced by individuals and focuses on the long-term changes needed in attitudes, behaviours, policies and laws for improvements to be sustainable. By addressing the causes not the symptoms and empowering people to overcome barriers we can help make sure no one has their access denied.

• We change normal day-to-day life for people all over the world, delivering water, sanitation and hygiene services through local partners. With over 30 years’ experience, we’re experts in working with communities to make improvements that last. Together, we find new ways to change lives in even the most challenging environments, using gravity to carry water to hillside villages or solar power to pump water to people in the desert, and pioneer new approaches – like promoting good hygiene messaging through vaccination programmes – in homes, schools and clinics.

• We show governments and businesses the difference that these three normal things make to people’s health, education and livelihoods, making an even bigger impact. We work together to create national policies and plans that improve the lives of everyone, not just those who are easiest and cheapest to reach. And we put strong systems in place to deliver them.

• We support community groups to hold their governments to account for financing and delivering these plans. We make information publicly available and raise awareness of existing inclusive policies, helping people to demand their rights.

Everyone everywhere, within a generation. Together, we can make it happen.

Access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene transforms life for everyone, but women and girls are among those with most to gain. Without the burden of collecting dirty water on their time and energy, they have more opportunities to get an education, find paid work, or spend time with family and friends. With decent toilets they can manage their periods hygienically and privately, and give birth more safely. With good hygiene they can keep clean and healthy, participating more in society and playing a bigger role in their community’s development.

But millions of women and girls have their access denied. Because:

• Traditional gender roles can mean women and girls are excluded from decision-making about improvements to their water, sanitation and hygiene services. They may be responsible for housework, childcare and water collection, but not expected to give their opinions. In the household, in the community, and in government, decisions are more likely to be made by men.

• Stigma around women’s bodies means they often don’t have a space in which to talk about their requirements. Cultural taboos can mean women have unnecessary limitations placed on them while menstruating. They may even be forced to sleep outdoors in some cases, putting them at increased risk of violence. And embarrassment about normal biological processes like periods or childbirth can mean women are denied what they need to stay healthy and participate in society throughout their lives.

• They may lack money or status and not be a priority for the people providing services. In many cases, women aren’t represented in positions of power and are excluded in policies and plans.

Whether this discrimination is intentional or not, millions of women and girls are denied an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure. This locks in inequality and makes progress almost impossible.

To achieve a more equal world for everyone everywhere, it’s these women and girls we need to reach. Because the development and prosperity of any community, region or country relies on all its people having access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

How do dirty water, inadequate toilets and poor hygiene stop women and girls having an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure?

Equal access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene is essential for women and girls to achieve equality. With their access denied, they are disadvantaged, at every stage of their lives. Carrying the burden of water collection and caring for sick relatives leaves them little time for an education or paid work. And managing their periods and giving birth safely are particularly difficult without these essential things.

We work at every level – with governments, businesses and communities – to put women and girls at the forefront of our work, recognizing gender inequalities and helping to put them right:

• We provide governments with evidence of the ways in which women and girls are disadvantaged by having their access denied to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. We influence decision-makers in national governments and global coalitions to put in place policies and plans that address gender inequality and deliver women’s rights.

• At the community level, we provide support to women’s groups, helping to connect them with governments so their voices are heard at the highest level. We give them the information, training and funding they need to campaign for their rights and demand action.

• We deliver inclusive services through local partners, who share their expertise and knowledge to make sure our work benefits the women and girls in the community. We show governments the difference these three things make to women’s health, education and livelihoods, making an even bigger impact.

Together, by tackling this issue at every level, this problem can be solved.

Access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene transforms life for everyone. But people in remote communities are among those with most to gain. These three things help to keep them healthy and less reliant on outside medical help. They free up their time, so they can work to support themselves and their families, growing the local economy. And they make them more resilient against droughts, floods and disasters.

But people in remote towns and villages are too often denied access to these human rights. Because:

• isolated villages can be difficult to get to, located across dangerous terrain. Getting construction materials like piping, concrete and cement to the top of a mountain, the middle of a desert or a lake can be difficult and costly.

• governments and utility companies may not have the solution to remote communities’ specific problems. Researching new approaches takes time and money that they often can’t afford or aren’t prepared to spend. Where people rely on ‘informal’ services, they can end up paying more for water than people with piped connections.

• where improvements are made, they often break down because parts and skilled tradespeople are not available locally. This makes sustainable progress particularly tricky.

• being far away from where decisions are made means people are easily forgotten or ignored by elected decision-makers. In many cases, remote communities aren’t represented in positions of power and are excluded in policies and plans.

Whether this discrimination is intentional or not, millions of people in remote communities are denied an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure. This locks in inequality and stops change happening.

To achieve a more equal world for everyone everywhere, it’s these remote communities we need to reach. Because the development and prosperity of any region or country relies on all its people having access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene.

How do dirty water, inadequate toilets and poor hygiene stop people in remote communities having an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure?

Dirty water, inadequate toilets and poor hygiene affect people in remote communities in many ways. They rob them of their time, put their safety at risk, and exclude them from opportunities to get an education or find work.

Dirty water, inadequate toilets and poor hygiene affect people in remote communities in many ways:

• They are robbed of their time. Regularly having to make the long, dangerous walk to collect dirty water means many people in remote villages are denied the time they need to get an education or earn money to support themselves and their families. This keeps them trapped in poverty.

• They are at risk of dangerous illnesses. When dirty water or a lack of toilets makes people in remote communities sick, it’s harder for them to access healthcare. Clinics can take hours or days to reach, by which time it may be too late.

• Their safety is at risk. Collecting water or finding a discreet place to defecate can be especially risky for people in remote communities. Women and children may have to navigate paths down steep hills or through dense jungle populated by dangerous animals, risking breaking limbs or worse.

• They are denied opportunities. Dirty water and poor toilets put up barriers to opportunities, forcing many people to move away for school or work. They leave behind people less able to move – like older people, people with disabilities and children – many of whom struggle even more without support.

What are we doing to give people in remote communities an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure?

We work hard to make sure the whole community benefits from access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene, and no-one is disadvantaged. We free people from the burden of water collection, so they can stay healthy and safe. And we bring people together to address unequal power structures and challenge stigma that holds some people back.

When we improve access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene in a community, we work hard to make sure the whole community benefits, and no-one is disadvantaged.

We change normal day-to-day life for people in remote communities all over the world:

• people are freed from the burden of water collection and can spend their time getting an education or working to support themselves and their families.
• parents can keep their children healthy with clean water and not have to risk the long journey to the health centre.
• Local people can learn how to maintain facilities, keeping the water flowing, and providing an opportunity for women to raise their status.
• Older people and people with disabilities have specially designed facilities that mean they no longer must risk their safety walking treacherous paths for water or a place to defecate.

In the community:

• we bring people together, including those who are too often excluded from decision-making, such as women and people with disabilities, supporting them to understand their rights and use their voices.
• we challenge the assumptions and taboos that have led to some people being excluded.
• we give women, people with disabilities and older people access to opportunities through training, and help them play an active role in water and sanitation committees that keep the water flowing and toilets working, so they are less reliant on outside support. And we build better supply chains so that materials and professional expertise are available when needed.

Only by challenging inequalities wherever we find them, can we achieve a world where no remote community has their access denied. Not just to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene – but to health, education and financial security.

What are we doing to make access to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for people in remote communities?

We work at every level so people in remote towns and villages no longer have their access denied. We put the hardest to reach communities first, working with local partners to find new solutions. And we share our experience with governments and utility companies to have an even bigger impact.

We work at every level – with governments, businesses and communities – so people in remote towns and villages no longer have their access denied. We put the hardest to reach communities first, recognising their rights to clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene and working to deliver them.

• We invest in communities in even the most challenging environments, from mountains to deserts to lakes, understanding the costs may be higher. And we strengthen them by making them aware of their rights and connecting them with others so that their voices are heard.

• We deliver water, sanitation and hygiene services through local partners who share their expertise and knowledge to make sure our work is right for the remote community we’re working in and will last. We use the local context to find the best solution, using gravity to carry water to hillside villages or solar power to pump water in hot, dry regions. And after the services are installed, we continue to monitor the situation to learn what works and what needs to be improved.

• We show governments and utility companies the difference clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene make to people’s health, education and livelihoods, having an even bigger impact. We map remote areas to find out which communities are without water and toilets. And we share our research and our experience of developing new approaches – like promoting good hygiene through vaccination programs – to help them carry out better targeted and more cost-efficient work.

No-one should have their access denied based on where they live, their gender or social status. Act now and support clean water and decent toilets for everyone.