About the Situation
By the Numbers
Nearly 900 million people worldwide do not have access to improved source of drinking water
1.2 billion people worldwide do not have any sanitation facilities
Nearly 90% of diarrhea cases could be eliminated by improved sanitation and drinking water
(Sources: U.N. and WHO)
Sanitation and safe drinking water—basic resources that can mean the difference between health and illness, prosperity and poverty. Yet nearly 900 million people do not have access to clean, safe water, and 2.6 billion do not have adequate sanitation facilities.
The two issues are often intertwined. In communities without sanitation facilities, people must relieve themselves in the open, which permits raw sewage to contaminate water supplies. The contaminated water then spreads preventable illnesses, such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis A.
The effects are stark: According to the United Nations, diarrhea is the top cause of illness and death worldwide, and nearly 90% of diarrhea cases could be eliminated by improved sanitation and drinking water. Simply washing hands with soap can reduce the risk of diarrhea by 45% or more, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Many communities also continue to struggle with obtaining sufficient quantities of water to sustain life. In some areas, villagers—nearly always women and girls—must devote much of their time to obtaining water to use for drinking, cooking and washing. This may mean walking long distances to wells, and then carrying heavy buckets back on their heads or on poles across their shoulders. This prevents women from engaging in income-generating work and keeps girls out of school—all because of the search for water.
How Islamic Relief is Helping
In the aftermath of disasters, Islamic Relief provides immediate humanitarian aid that often includes distribution of clean water to prevent illness. Teams often remain in the affected areas to develop long-term water and sanitation projects that may include the construction of hygienic facilities and digging of modern, safe and accessible wells. Projects like these quickly reduce illness rates and save lives.
Here are some of Islamic Relief’s current and recently completed water and sanitation programs:
- Haiyuan ecological management demonstration project, China
- Huanxian rainwater catchment, China
- Tongijang education, health, and water supply program, China
- Water and sanitation, Mali
- Water, health, and environment program, Yemen
- Al Selo water and health project, Yemen
