Water and sanitation

Plan's goal: children and youth will realize their right to safe, reliable, and affordable drinking water supplies; to hygienic sanitation; and to live in a clean environment

Plan works with communities to improve access to safe drinking water and to raise awareness of the importance of waste management.

Access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation is necessary for health, income generation, poverty alleviation, gender equality, human rights and personal dignity. Yet, over 900 million people in the developing world live without access to safe drinking water, 2.6 billion people live without adequate sanitation, and 4 billion live in conditions where their wastewater is discharged untreated into local water bodies.* According to the Joint Monitoring Programme, a collaboration of the WHO and UNICEF, 1.5 million children also die each year due to diarrheal disease.

In line with reaching the targeted Millenium Development Goal (countries have pledged to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation by 2015), each of Plan’s country programs has implemented water and sanitation programs in urban and rural areas:

• Improvement of water and sanitation access in urban & rural populations
• Point-of-use water treatment
• Behavior change and hygiene promotion
• Community-Led Total Sanitation

In the year ending June 2011, Plan invested approximately $56.8 million to improve the sanitation facilities in 122,927 households, and help communities build or refurbish 5,804 water points.  

* USAID, Pro-Poor Approaches to Water Supply and Sanitation Workshop: Discussion Paper, May 7, 2009

* UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking Water Report 2010

How does your support help?

Your support helps provide children, families and communities with safe drinking water, access to hygienic sanitation, and a cleaner environment. With your support we can provide:

• Water towers, wells, boreholes, and other water points that provide access to safe drinking water in rural and urban populations;
• Protection from parasitic illnesses, diarrhea, and death caused by unclean water;
• Access to hygienic latrines and sewage systems;
• Safe water points and separate latrines for girls and boys in schools;
• Management and maintenance of water points and sanitation systems;
• Education on the importance of proper use and handling of water, proper waste management, and good hygiene practices.