With almost one in ten people worldwide still without access to clean water close to home, and 1.5 billion people without a toilet of their own, the global water and sanitation crisis is vast. Unfortunately, we cannot be everywhere there is need. To ensure our work is as efficient and beneficial as possible, it is planned years in advance to a specific global strategy. The countries we work in were chosen because: there is potential for our work to be effective and have a long-term positive impact; the country lies at the lower end of the UNDP's Human Development Index, or has pockets of extreme poverty, and a significant part of the population in the country does not have access to water and/or sanitation; there is an opportunity for our work to complement the work of others; there is potential for us to influence other organisations to improve access to clean water and sanitation; there is an opportunity for us to widen our experience and knowledge, increasing our credibility and ability to influence global change. While we can't be everywhere we would like to help, our international advocacy work aims to change water and sanitation policies globally, even in regions where we don’t have a physical presence.