Water Sanitation and Hygiene

Lack of access to safe, clean drinking-water and basic sanitation, as well as poor hygiene cause nearly 90% of all deaths from diarrhea, mainly in children. While 87% of the world’s population now has access to improved water sources, 39% still lack access to improved sanitation. Moreover, in developing countries 1.1 billion people still defecate in the open, and hand washing with soap is practiced, on average, only after 17% of toilet uses.

Primary prevention of diarrhea through water, sanitation and hygiene interventions is based on reducing the fecal-oral transmission of pathogens, and includes the provision of an improved water supply, water safety planning, household water treatment and safe storage, improved sanitation facilities, and hygiene education.

In many developing countries of the world, women and girls spend over 152 million hours daily collecting water in buckets for household use. They walk for several miles to accomplish this tedious task which steals time away from school and work. Water is essential to the survival of the household and the burden of responsibility remains in the hands of women and young girls. CAGISC believes the availability of clean and safe water changes lives. 

Making clean water available to local communities is a collaborative effort. CAGISC provides safe water, hygiene promotion and sanitation facilities to improve the lives of individuals and families in communities around the world. We train families on good hygiene practices to decrease the risks of illnesses. The goal of this project is to reduce the health risks of water related diseases and decrease the time spent by women and girls to fetch water from distance sources. This is valuable time which could be used to earn an income or for education. In our view, the improvement of water supply and sanitation facilities will definitely enhance women’s empowerment efforts globally.