Water and sanitation
Plan helps thousands of children access safe water
Plan works with communities to improve access to safe drinking water and to raise awareness of the importance of waste management.
More than 2.2 million children die every year – that’s four every minute – as a result of diarrhea caused by poor sanitation and hygiene.
Every year Plan helps communities build 2,000 school latrines and in the last three years has helped families and communities build an average 100,000 toilets per year, benefiting several million people.
We also provide water points in communities and schools, especially in rural areas, and establish community-based organizations to ensure the continued management and maintenance of water points.
Radical approach
Billions of people lack access to basic sanitation and are forced to defecate out in the open, contaminating food and water supplies.
In Asia and East and Southern Africa, Plan is pioneering a radical new approach – Community-Led Total Sanitation – which educates communities about the importance of sanitation and helps them to construct and maintain their own latrines. They also gain the confidence to enforce a total ban on open defecation.
Case study
Hours of lining up for water are a thing of the past in Ifakara, Tanzania thanks to a new solar powered water system installed by Plan. The new water system uses solar panels and automatic pumps to extract water from the Ifakara area’s four boreholes.