Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

Plan International’s Goal for WASH:

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 International’s Approach:

The basic foundation of Plan International’s WASH work is focused around five pillars:

1. Access: children and their communities should have access to and be able to use safe drinking water and sanitation facilities all year round
2. Integration: all programs should address water, sanitation, and hygiene behavior change in a holistic manner to maximize impact
3. Empowerment and sustainability: children, their families, and their communities should have the opportunity for empowerment by improving their chances to participate in all stages of the program/project cycle
4. Gender equity/inclusion: through mainstreaming gender considerations, WASH projects should contribute to the eradication of gender-based inequities and should allow for regular and continuous input by women, men, girls, and boys
5. Technology choice: technical standards for WASH programs should be set so that relevant and appropriate technology is incorporated into system design

What We Do in WASH:

Each of Plan’s country programs has implemented water and sanitation programs in urban and rural areas:

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

In 2012, Plan invested approximately $63.1 million to improve the sanitation facilities in 417,911 households, and help communities build or refurbish 3,796 water points.

Integrating WASH into Existing Programs:

See how the integration of water, sanitation, and hygiene can improve the success rate of an existing project:

• Economic Projects
• Disaster Risk Management and Security Projects
• Maternal and Child Health Projects
• Educational Projects
• HIV and AIDS Projects