Water, Sanitation & Hygiene
Almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean drinking water. A third of the world’s population lives without basic sanitation infrastructure like a toilet.
Every day 4,000 children die from illnesses like diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera caused by dirty water and unhygienic living conditions. We can’t fight malnutrition without tackling the diseases that contribute to it. As part of our integrated approach to hunger, we’re getting safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services to communities in need all over the world.
What We Do
Provide Access to Safe Water
During emergencies, ACF trucks water into affected areas and installs storage tanks and reservoirs. Where water is scarce or unsafe, we drill and decontaminate wells, install hand-pumps, protect natural springs, tap aquifers, rehabilitate damaged infrastructure, and pipe water into hard-to-reach villages and health centers.
Promote Sanitation & Hygiene
To prevent outbreaks of disease during a crisis, ACF’s teams distribute hygiene kits and build latrines and hand-washing stations. In communities at risk, we construct water filters made from basic materials and teach healthy practices like hand-washing, cooking with clean utensils, and drawing water from protected sources.
Ensure Lasting Change
ACF’s commitment to community participation ensures long-term capacity: we train community-based water committees to manage their water and sanitation infrastructure themselves, and organize village health teams to model good sanitation and hygiene practices for their communities long after we leave an area.
Recent WASH News
April 25, 2012
If you simply scratch the surface, it appears as if Nigeria is having a golden moment. It’s a middle income country according to the World Bank, and is the second largest economy in Africa after South Africa. The U.S. gets 20 percent of its oil from Nigeria and is the nation’s largest foreign investor.... Read
March 20, 2012
Chances are you’re reading this post at your desk, a bottle of water in easy arm’s reach. If you’re like us, you sip throughout your day—staying happy, healthy, hydrated. You might take a moment to give your ubiquitous H20 a little extra appreciation because this week, on Thursday, March 22nd, is World Water Day. It’s also a great day to remind ourselves that water is not ubiquitous for everyone.... Read
March 20, 2012
Over the past decade, the humanitarian landscape within which ACF operates has become more complex. New hazards have emerged that complicate long-term efforts to extend water and sanitation services—challenges such as urbanization, environmental degradation, climate change and migration, as well as population growth and economic marginalization.... Read
March 20, 2012
In addressing the global water crisis, Action Against Hunger believes in the power of partnership. To illustrate this, we invite you to watch a video of the first project in our three-year collaboration with Tyco International—a clean water system we’re building in Indonesia’s impoverished Nusa Tenggara Timur province:... Read
We're a Top Nonprofit
Action Against Hunger has been named one of the top nonprofits of 2011 by a panel of experts rating international charities.
