Water, Sanitation& Hygiene

Providing adequate water,sanitation and hygiene
services is a key public healthchallenge in today’s world.
Around 2.2 billion people worldwide lackaccess to safe drinking water, and 3 billion
lack access to improved sanitation, leading
to 1.7 billion cases of diarrheal diseaseeach year. Even though diarrheal diseases
are preventable and treatable, more than
760,000 children under age 5 die fromthese diseases annually.
Because safe water, improved sanitationand maintaining good hygiene are crucial
to human health, well-being, dignity anddevelopment, International Medical Corps
works to provide these most basic humanneeds, no matter how challenging theconditions. This is why we prioritize theprevention of diseases related to water,
sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as part ofour comprehensive approach to health.

By 2025, half of the global
population will live inwater-stressed regions.
Children who are malnourished and individuals with impaired
immunity—such as people living with HIV/AIDS—are more
susceptible to life-threatening diarrhea. WASH-related diseases
account for half of hospital-bed occupancy in developing
countries, increasing the burden on healthcare systems that areoften overstretched. Furthermore, one in four health facilities has
no water services, and one in 10 has no sanitation services.
With decades of experience in emergency response,International Medical Corps implements WASH interventionsat healthcare facilities, communities, camps and schools, inboth emergency and development contexts. We work withlocal leaders to provide adequate, safe, potable drinking
water; improve sanitation infrastructure; promote personal anddomestic hygiene; and improve infection prevention and control(IPC) measures in health facilities.

working closely with those most affected by disasters, we help
communities and relevant authorities develop and implement
sustainable WASH programs. Our community-centeredapproach helps residents improve sanitation during emergency
recovery and development.
HYGIENE PROMOTIONInternational Medical Corps teaches people of all ages
the personal, domestic, environmental and food hygiene
practices that prevent or mitigate transmission of disease. All
social and behavioral change information and education andcommunication programs are designed in consultation withthe local community, ministries of health and the Global WASH
Cluster and are culturally appropriate.
WASH IN HEALTH FACILITIESWATER SUPPLY
In line with international and national standards, International
Medical Corps works to provide communities with adequate
safe water for drinking, cooking and personal and domestic
hygiene. We ensure that communal water points are sufficiently
close to dwellings to meet minimum requirements.
SANITATIONInternational Medical Corps works with communities tobuild gender-segregated sanitation facilities that are safeand accessible both day and night. True to our mission ofTo ensure smooth healthcare delivery, International Medical
Corps trains health facility staff in IPC measures and theappropriate disposal of hazardous medical waste, to preventcross-infection and halt the spread of hospital-acquired
infections, including COVID-19. Our key focus is building thecapacity needed to enable the local community to respond tofuture emergencies.
COVID-19 RESPONSE
During the COVID-19 pandemic, International Medical Corps
has instituted IPC measures that fully meet WASH standards
and ensure the safety of our staff, patients and health facility
visitors. Moreover, we have implemented risk communicationand community engagement strategies to promote behaviors
that reduce the spread of disease.

During active emergencies,
International Medical Corps supports
lifesaving WASH interventions withincommunities and at institutional
facilities. In addition to responding to emergency
needs, we also work to address chronic water
scarcity and sanitation challenges in countries
around the world, including the examples below.

AFGHANISTANInternational Medical Corps addresses critical, lifesaving WASH
needs and gaps through our community health programs. Using
green energy, we provide water supply services to the mostvulnerable and deprived communities by constructing water
points and rehabilitating community water systems. We also truckclean water to returnee camps and other vulnerable populationsin hard-to-reach areas. In a country where just over one-quarterof the population has access to improved sanitation facilities,
we operate a community-led total sanitation (CLTS) program toend open defecation through behavior-change strategies and byempowering people to spread knowledge to their peers. We also
encourage the formation of family health action groups, which
work with community health workers to foster behavioral changearound sanitation and hygiene at the household level.
Our WASH teams also work closely with Afghan communities
to raise awareness and promote a culture of handwashing by
distributing hygiene kits to thousands of people and providing
handwashing stations with soap to health facilities andvulnerable communities.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC)
International Medical Corps has a long history of rebuilding andstrengthening the DRC’s health system in the wake of various
crises, including multiple outbreaks of the Ebola virus. When theDRC experienced an outbreak in 2018, we built Ebola treatment
centers and screening-and-referral units (SRUs) to monitor
populations in affected areas. We rehabilitated waste zones andlatrines in the health facilities we support, and installed rainwatercollection systems with reservoirs to provide water for clinicaland patient needs. Our WASH team also upgraded an Ebola
Treatment Center in Makeke to a primary health facility featuring
a pediatric ward, maternity ward, wards for men and women, awaste management zone and staff quarters. In response to both
Ebola and COVID-19, we have provided healthcare workers with
IPC training and thousands of WASH and IPC supply kits.

ETHIOPIAInternational Medical Corps has built WASH infrastructurein health centers, camps and communities, supporting theinstallation of roof-based rainwater-harvesting systems,
water storage containers and water purification materials forhouseholds and health posts, and rehabilitating local water
sources. We work in three camps housing Somali refugees,

improving access to sanitation and hygiene facilities forthousands. Through mass awareness campaigns and homevisits, we educate refugees on handwashing, hygienic latrine
usage, safe-water chains and solid-waste disposal. We also
train health workers and community volunteers on a variety ofWASH-related topics.

NIGERIATo improve WASH access for people affected by continued
conflict in northeast Nigeria, we lead the WASH Cluster in the local
government area (LGA) of Damboa, which contains six camps
for internally displaced persons (IDPs). We provide clean water
to these IDP camps via water trucking and by drilling boreholesthat we fit with solar-powered or hand-operated pumps. We
also distribute handwashing stations, soap and disinfectant tothousands of households to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

International Medical Corps carries
out WASH projects in communities,
refugee camps, schools and healthfacilities. We work throughout theemergency relief, recovery anddevelopment phases, responding
to natural disasters, public health emergencies
and mass population movements that result fromconflict and other complex emergencies. Across
our programs, we help communities and relevant
authorities develop and implement sustainable
WASH interventions.SOMALIAZIMBABWEIn response to drought, conflict and floods, International Medical
Corps has rehabilitated solar-powered wells, water points andwater supply systems, and installed hand pumps, to provide
increased community access to safe drinking water and ensure
uninterrupted water supplies at health facilities. We haveestablished WASH committees that make sure water quality
meets minimum WHO standards, and that undertake the routine
operation and maintenance of the water supply infrastructure.
We have also rehabilitated laundries and installed incinerators,
ash sharp pits and handwashing stations at health facility wastezones. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our community
health promoters have scaled up hygiene promotion andinfection-prevention activities in camps and host communities.

Since 2011, International Medical Corps has strengthened WASH
capacities in five Mashonaland Central Province districts. Ourcommunity health clubs promote community and householdhygiene improvements, including the construction of pot racks,
handwashing facilities and latrines. In response to COVID-19,
we’ve implemented WASH/IPC programs aimed at increasing
IPC information at healthcare facilities and improving access toWASH services at isolation centers, and have trained around500 staff at 17 healthcare facilities in IPC measures.

SUDAN (DARFUR REGION)
International Medical Corps operates in around 90 health facilities
in West, Central, South Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofanstates, running solid-waste management campaigns in camps andlocal communities, providing safe drinking water and improving
water infrastructure in health facilities by installing water tanks that
increase capacity and enable a consistent supply. Through healthand nutrition education, we empower vulnerable groups to lead
their own hygiene promotion activities.

YEMEN

UKRAINE
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, International Medical
Corps has helped reestablish health systems in liberated areasof Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia by rehabilitating andproviding safe, potable water to damaged health facilities. We havealso provided safe drinking water and distributed WASH-related
items, including IPC kits, to affected populations.
Through our work with the Ministry of Health and other government
agencies, the WASH team set up a modular field hospital to replacea clinic in Kharkiv, and installed an emergency water distribution
system at the Izium hospital within 72 hours of the liberation ofthat city. We continue to adapt our WASH interventions—including
providing emergency WASH services to constrained and newly
liberated areas, and rehabilitating WASH and health infrastructure—
based on the changing context in Ukraine.

In a country where 80% of the population requires humanitarianassistance, we have rehabilitated community water supply
systems and installed solar-powered submersible pumps. We’ve
provided emergency water where needed and trucked treatedwater to IDP camps and health facilities. We monitor water
quality and provide operational support to water management
committees. Moreover, we have rehabilitated sanitation systems
in major cities in Sana’a and Ibb governorates, installing
emergency latrines in IDP camps and WASH infrastructure in
the health facilities we support. We have conducted COVID-19
prevention training for health workers in our supported healthfacilities and distributed environmental health kits and WASH/
IPC materials to treatment centers, health facilities and hospitals
across the country.

www.InternationalMedicalCorps.org
A pre-eminent first responder since 1984, International
Medical Corps delivers emergency medical and related
services to those affected by conflict, disaster anddisease, no matter where they are, no matter what theconditions. We also train people in their communities,
providing them with the skills they need to recover,chart their own path to self-reliance and become
effective first responders themselves.
December 2022

CONTACT
INFO:

Syed Yasir Ahmad, Global WASH Advisor
syahmad@internationalmedicalcorps.org.uk

International Medical Corps is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, and has
offices in Washington, DC; London, UK; and Split, Croatia.
For contact information, visit InternationalMedicalCorps.org/contact.