Access to drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

The malnutrition of one out of two infants is linked to waterborne diseases, to an unhealthy environment, and limited access to drinking water. In 2020, around one in four people in the world did not have access to safe drinking water, almost 2 billion people worldwide¹.

More than 80% of the water used generated in the world goes back into the ecosystem without being treated or recycled². In the majority of cases, the community does not have the infrastructure required for treating used water.

Water is draining from fecal matter, medical waste, farming pesticides and potentially-toxic chemical products discarded by human activity. Entire communities can fall ill if the drinking water is contaminated and hygiene is neglected. On drinking a water source contaminated by excrements, the people risk catching fatal illnesses such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid or polio.

Improving access to drinking water and raising public awareness

Action contre la Faim works to prevent malnutrition and runs programs to improve access to clean water, build latrines and public baths, and set up sanitation networks to ensure community hygiene. It installs local sanitation systems, drainage networks and latrines in families, health centers and schools, and improves existing ones. It also raises awareness of good hygiene practices and water management.

In emergency situations (epidemics, natural disasters, etc.), we position ourselves as a player in the field (distributing water by tanker trucks, hygiene kits, setting up emergency sanitation, implementing risk prevention programs), but also as a coordinator of the humanitarian response.

In addition to treating and preventing malnutrition, Action contre la Faim takes an integrated approach to managing the risks associated with natural disasters, including adaptation to climate change. This cross-functional approach is integrated into our programs within the various areas of intervention. The aim is to develop and implement strategies and practices designed to limit the vulnerability of populations, and the hazards and consequences of disasters on people’s lives.

Our solutions to provide access to drinking water and water for hygiene and agriculture

Action contre la Faim’s projects are guided by a major concern: ensuring access to water, particularly drinking water, which leads us to :

• Transporting treated water by tanker truck in crisis situations to more permanent sources
• Purify contaminated water sources for safe use
• Install water storage tanks and outdoor reservoirs
• Dig or rehabilitate new wells and boreholes
• Channel and preserve streams
• Build and repair water networks, mainly in urban areas
• Install and improve irrigation systems
• Build watering sites for livestock

How can we ensure sustainable access to drinking water for all?

The long-term benefits of our programs would be difficult to sustain without our ongoing commitment to community involvement. Setting up water and sanitation services is much more than carrying out technical work.

To ensure ownership of these systems by the beneficiaries, we rely on a community-based approach to jointly develop the project, encourage and value local work and potential, population participation and a sense of belonging, and pool energies and resources. By organizing and training community water committees, Action contre la Faim ensures the long-term management and maintenance of the systems we rehabilitate and install.

In our campaign to defeat hunger, drinking water and sanitation are as essential as food, but only the development of local know-how can ensure their sustainability.

At a time when global needs are on a catastrophic scale, we are developing innovations in water and sanitation, promoting better hygiene habits and teaching people how to use their natural resources.

Lack of access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, and their impact on undernutrition, remain major global challenges that we are striving to overcome. In 2023, through our water, sanitation and hygiene programs, nearly 6.8 million people benefited from our action.

¹OMS/UNICEF, Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000 – 2020

²UNESCO, The United Nations world water development report 2017: Wastewater: the untapped resource