REACH INDIA CHARITY

Growing up in a clean and safe environment is every child’s right. Access to clean water, basic toilets, and good hygiene practices not only keeps children thriving, but also gives them a healthier start in life.

Despite COVID-19 putting the spotlight on the importance of hand hygiene to prevent the spread of disease, three billion people worldwide, including hundreds of millions of school-going children, do not have access to handwashing facilities with soap. People living in rural areas, urban slums, disaster-prone areas and low-income countries are the most vulnerable and the most affected.

Key facts

· Worldwide, 2.2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water.

· More than half of the global population does not have access to safe sanitation.

· Three billion people do not have access to handwashing facilities with soap.

· Still, 673 million people practice open defecation.

The consequences of unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene on children can be deadly. Over 700 children under age 5 die every day of diarrhoeal diseases due to lack of appropriate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene services. In areas of conflict, children are nearly 20 times more likely to die from diarrhoeal disease than from the conflict itself.

Water

When children don’t have access to clean water, it affects their health, nutrition, education and learning abilities, thus impacting many aspects of their lives.

Everyone has the human right to safe drinking water. This holds true in stability and in crisis, in urban and rural contexts, and in every country around the world. When children don’t have access to clean water, it negatively impacts their health, nutrition, education and every other aspect of their lives. Girls, women and people living with disabilities are particularly impacted.

Sanitation

Adequate sanitation is essential to childhood survival and development, improving children’s education, increasing productivity and building resilience in the face of disease and disaster.