Tagged: Water, sanitation and hygiene

A clean start to life

Big picture

By

Story also available in: 中文
Imagine watching your doctor wash their hands with dirty water. Imagine giving birth to a child in a hospital with no running water. Or having no toilet to use when you are in labor. Imagine delivery a baby, without having soap or water to wash your hands. This is a reality for millions of people around the world, where health care is… Read more →←
A group of people looking at a plan together

Keeping women safe in South Sudan’s displacement camps

Big picture

By

Story also available in: Français
As we walk through the maze of tents that make up the Protection of Civilians (PoC) site in Bor, South Sudan, a group of children come bounding around the corner and come to a stop in front of us. Sarah, my guide in the camp, immediately shows the children one of the plastic signs she is carrying, illustrated with simple pictures of… Read more →←
A group of girls in their school uniforms, photographed from above.

Beating Ebola with clean water and soap

Children in emergencies

By

Story also available in: Français Español
What would you do without water? Some of us are lucky enough not to have to ask that question, but many around the world are not. Especially in emergencies, UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) teams work to make sure that water is available, along with hygiene measures and supplies to protect people from disease. In… Read more →←
Boy washes his hands at a sink outside a public toilet building painting with informational messages on sanitation and handwashing

Why toilets matter

Experts speak

By ,

It has been more than 160 years since the link between sewage-polluted drinking water and cholera was first established. And yet from December 2014 to August 2016, more than 17,000 people were hospitalized due to cholera in Kenya. It is a stark reminder that inequalities persist, and that sanitation and clean drinking water are still of… Read more →←
Woman standing on balcony holding a baby; they look at each other

Living without a toilet: more common than you think

Big picture

By ,

Story also available in: Español
In the Onga Zanga zone, in the province of Luanda, the colonial-style house where Maria Laurinda lives does not have the charm it once had, and is in terrible condition. Maria and her six children have well water throughout the year, but she still remembers the time before the Government installed the water pump. Before, they had no… Read more →←
Children at a long trough of water wash their hands.

5 facts about hands, water, soap and poop!

Big picture

By

Story also available in: Français
Would you eat food from a toilet seat? Nope! Why not? Because not only is it disgusting, it can lead to all sorts of diseases. When germs from our poop get on our hands, we’re in trouble. Even worse, if we don’t wash our hands then germs can go from our hands, onto the food we’re going to eat, into our mouths, into our systems and… Read more →←
A girl washing her hands

One hand washes the other…for better health

Experts speak

By

Story also available in: Español العربية Français
The practice of hand washing is simple, so simple it sometimes goes unnoticed. Maybe it’s because it has rarely crosses people’s minds that our hands can serve as a reservoir for numerous microorganisms. They can be transmitted by direct contact with contaminated skin or objects, and through surfaces from contaminated environments,… Read more →←
Smiling boy stands in front of a building

Fighting cholera in Haiti after Hurricane Matthew

Children in emergencies

By

Seven hours on the road, or rather on a rocky trail that renders one grateful for a solid back and stomach, to Pestel. All along our way to the town, one of the areas where a significant increase in diarrhea cases has been registered over the past week, we pass destroyed houses and trees. People in front of their homes, stranded. Some… Read more →←

Filter results

Clear