page_title: WASH
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: WASH / Background
caption_attribution_description: Mark Havilegu celebrates the opening of a water supply project in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands, October 2013. The project is one of 10 funded in the province by Australia through the Solomon Islands Ministry of Health’s rural water, sanitation and hygiene program.
context_page_description: WASH is an acronym that stands for "water, sanitation and hygiene". Universal, affordable and sustainable access to WASH is a key public health issue within international development and is the focus of Sustainable Development Goal 6. SDG 6 aims at equitable and accessible water and sanitation for all, with Target 6.2 specifically mentioning women and girls.
  Several international development agencies assert that attention to WASH can also improve health, life expectancy, student learning, gender equality, and other important issues of international development. Access to WASH includes safe water, adequate sanitation and hygiene education. This can reduce illness and death, and also reduce poverty and improve socio-economic development.
  In 2015 the World Health Organization estimated that "1 in 3 people, or 2.4 billion, are still without sanitation facilities" while 663 million people still lack access to safe and clean drinking water. In 2017, this estimate changed to 2.3 billion people without sanitation facilities and 844 million people without access to safe and clean drinking water.
context_section_description: The concept of WASH groups together water supply, sanitation, and hygiene because the impact of deficiencies in each area overlap strongly. Addressing these deficiencies together can achieve a strong positive impact on public health.
  The United Nation's International Year of Sanitation in 2008 helped to increase attention for funding of sanitation in WASH programs of many donors. For example, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has increased their funding for sanitation projects since 2009, with a strong focus on reuse of excreta.
caption: Celebrating the opening of a water supply project in Isabel Province, Solomon Islands
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