More than one in every eight people in the world lack clean, safe water.¹ Nearly
two in every five people in the world lack access to private and sanitary latrines.¹
Most of these individuals live in developing countries and in conditions of extreme
poverty.  Diarrheal diseases, contracted by contaminated water, poor sanitation, and
unhygienic practices, kill nearly two million people each year, and the vast majority are children under five.²

Clean water must be kept clean from the source to the point of use. Fecal matter and other wastes must be kept from contaminating the water source. Hands that prepare food and interact with children and neighbors must be free from harmful pathogens in order to keep water pure before consumption. If individuals practice open defecation or if handwashing with soap is not practiced, diarrheal disease spreads rapidly.

Providing access to sufficient amounts of safe water and adequate sanitation facilities and introducing effective hygiene behaviors are essential to reducing the burden of disease and promoting community-wide health benefits.²⁰ Field experts commonly refer to these three aspects of development as WASH. Each of these aspects is interdependent: without access to safe water, sanitation facilities cannot be maintained and good hygiene practices are far less effective. Likewise, without proper sanitation and hygiene, safe water becomes contaminated and detrimental to good health. Alone, each of these reduce disease by 15 to 40 percent, but “[when] combined, water, sanitation, and hygiene reduce the number of deaths caused by diarrheal diseases by an average of 65 percent.”¹⁵

Lifewater International addresses the global water, sanitation and hygiene crisis by cultivating long-term relationships with partner organizations in developing nations who are dedicated to implementing sustainable WASH solutions in their communities. Lifewater equips our partners by providing materials, funding, and on-site technical and educational training to create safe water sources and build adequate latrines and sanitation systems. To achieve maximum benefits and to ensure that our work is sustainable, Lifewater and its partner organizations teach a strong understanding of the sources of disease and illness and works with each community to create culturally appropriate hygiene practices upon which they can have a sense of ownership.