Water, sanitation and hygiene

  1. In Chennai, India, Sathivani washes her family's clothes beside a sewerage drain in an overcrowded slum.
  2. World Vision is helping communities in Tanzania to gain access to clean water.
  3. Children in this Cambodian village enjoy better health because of a new water well.
  4. When a community gains access to clean water, improvements in the health and wellbeing of children follow.
  5. Drinking and bathing in dirty water helps to spread diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery and intestinal parasites.
  6. Hayimnot, aged 4, drinks clean water from a covered well.
  7. Communities in Niger drink dirty water from the Niger River and this causes illness and disease.
  8. In Ethiopia, an irrigation scheme harnessing an underground spring helps farmers grow more crops.
  9. Veronica collects dirty water from an unkept spring near her village in Uganda.

Imagine a life where access to clean water was a constant struggle and a constant risk. World Vision works with at-risk communities to ensure that safe, fresh water is never far away from anyone’s lips.

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What is this about?

They have been identified as the key ingredients in the fight against poverty, so what exactly makes clean water, good sanitation and hygiene so important?

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Who is it happening to?

Today, 900 million people worldwide still live without access to clean water, another 2.5 billion lack decent sanitation and 1.8 million people die every year from diarrhoeal diseases. The gravest concern is for those living in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania.

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Why is it happening?

The amount of water people use is directly related to how easy it is for them to obtain and how affordable it is. Affluent lifestyles make heavy demands on water.

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Where is it happening?

In Australia, average water use is around 180 litres per person per day. In Europe, it's 200 litres, while in the USA each person's daily consumption can reach a staggering 400 litres.*

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What is our response?

Lack of clean water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene have reached crisis point in the world's poorest countries. As Australians, we have the power to help ease this situation and improve the quality of life for people living in extreme poverty.

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How you can help?

Fresh water is the key to many of the world’s biggest health and poverty issues. Whether it’s drinking water to sustain human life, water for agriculture, infrastructure for hygienic communities, or fresh water supplies after disaster strikes, World Vision works every day to provide for disadvantaged communities, and needs your ongoing support.

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Let's talk about it

Your vision

How clean water could change Jennifer’s life
Michael Kelly
May 30, 2013

"How lucky we are in a country like Australia, where we take the basic of needs for granted, and yet our fellow human beings in poor countries, can only dream of get..."

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Who is it happening to?
darrel
May 23, 2013

"So sad its horrible."

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Who is it happening to?
trevior
May 23, 2013

"This is horrifying seeing these poor unhappy children dying because they don't have clean water. This is a load of nonsense,..."

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What is our response?
kirsten
May 02, 2013

"Please help! This is really sad and completely unfair! :'("

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