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The Global Sanitation Crisis

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What is the world sanitation crisis? 

Like water, toilets are critical. Toilets prevent the spread of disease, and provide health, privacy and safety. Today, 2 in 5 people don’t have access to a safe toilet so they spend hours a day searching for a place to go. And more people have a mobile phone than a toilet. 

We help give families access to the financing they need to fund their own sanitation solutions, because we believe it's time everyone everywhere has access to a toilet.

3.5 billion people lack access to a safe toilet
5% of the global population defecates in the open

More than a place to go

Water.org empowers people with access to small, affordable loans to fund their own sanitation solutions, because access to a toilet means more than a place to go. Access to a safe toilet empowers people in need with health, privacy and safety. It empowers them with time to work, time to go to school and time to play.

More people have a mobile phone than a toilet.
A blue outhouse next to a clothesline with hanging laundry.
Young couple smiling while sitting on the steps outside of their home in Cambodia.

From fear to freedom

Mong and Rim live in a rural Cambodian village. While Rim was able to build the family a one-bedroom home to protect them at night, he could not afford to give them the facilities needed to protect them from unsafe water and the risks associated with open defecation.

That was until the couple was empowered with something we call WaterCredit. With a small loan, Mong and Rim were able to affordably finance the materials needed to build a bathroom and rain catchment system on their property.

Click here to read their story

This is why we do what we do

Here are the percentages of the population living without access to a safe toilet in the countries where we work. 

References