Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Program

Supporting communities to meet their needs for clean water, sanitation, and hygiene around the world.

See project description.

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene are essential for good health and well-being. Water is used not only for drinking, but also for bathing, cooking, cleaning, waste disposal, and agriculture. Yet, 668 million people around the world do not have reliable access to clean drinking water and even more people lack access to water for agriculture and other household tasks to meet their everyday needs. What’s more, 1.8 billion lack adequate toilets. The lack of access to these basic services and the education regarding healthy behaviors results in over 1,000 children a day dying from diseases, many of which are entirely preventable when WASH is addressed sand sustained at the community level. UMCOR-WASH implements projects through a network of partners in countries that have the highest levels of childhood diseases and death and least access to basic WASH services. UMCOR and its partners are working on long-term solutions that start with communities’ priorities and agendas and support the change that they want to make in their lives, working alongside these communities to implement projects and learn how to manage their new assets. Partners help communities gain better access to clean water by working with them to locate and develop safe water sources, educate themselves on key hygiene behaviors, and improve appropriate and simple sanitation solutions. This work is carried out in a holistic manner that addresses the fact that all aspects of life are interrelated and so solutions and approaches must also be integrated and related. UMCOR partners are either national non-governmental organizations or local community based organizations. Through this network, partners must present project proposals on a yearly cycle to support the communities’ goals in WASH and present an overview of their capacities to carryout their plans. Your support for UMCOR-WASH supports our partners’ critical work!

UMCOR Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) accompanies and empowers families and communities to identify their water, sanitation and hygiene behavior goals and decide solutions that will ensure continued access to clean water and healthy disposal of waste in an integrated manner towards improved health and service outcomes. Objectives 1. Underserved populations have sustainable access to basic WASH services, including improved indoor air; 2. UMCOR field offices and external partners exchange best practices to jointly achieve clear and concise global targets; 3. Monitoring and evaluation of WASH activities demonstrate impact and communicate needs; 4. Individuals, congregations, and agencies within the Methodist church share strategic direction and resources to increase the impact of WASH activities.