Providing Clean Water

Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life.

When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families.

How Rotary makes help happen

Through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs, Rotary’s people of action mobilize resources, form partnerships, and invest in infrastructure and training that yield long-term change.

Making schools healthier

All 24 of Lebanon’s Rotary clubs came together — overcoming religious, cultural, and political divisions — to form partnerships with the government, World Vision, UNICEF, and the Red Cross. Together the groups developed a program that delivers clean water to every public school in the country.

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Water for a community

Rotary clubs partnered with local organizations to install a rainwater harvesting and distribution center for 4,000 people in Papua New Guinea. They also delivered training programs for women in the community and students in 35 schools.
WASH in Guatemala schools

Rotary clubs in Guatemala improved conditions for as many as 1,793 children in 10 schools in the town of Escuintla by providing toilets, washing stations, water tanks, and training

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Water supply in Tanzania

A dozen Rotary clubs collaborated with local partners to establish a water supply and delivery system for 1,500 people in the village of Kigogo, Tanzania. They also taught the community how to maintain the systems and provided hygiene education.

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Access to toilets in the Philippines

Rotary clubs and partners built 222 toilets, six rainwater collectors, seven communal handwashing stations, and 20 biosand filters. The project provided more than 1,000 people with access to proper toilet facilities and almost 600 people with a regular supply of clean water.

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Our impact on water, sanitation and hygiene

The Rotary Foundation is changing the world by providing grants for projects and activities around the globe and in your own backyard:

WASH Global Grant Projects: Since 2013, The Rotary Foundation has invested in more than $130 million in over 2000 projects worldwide. Through this investment, our volunteers of action have improved access to safely managed and basic WASH services to communities, schools and healthcare facilities, while protecting and conserving water resources.

Rotary-USAID WASH Partnership: Rotary and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) assist communities and governments to plan, finance and deliver safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, while sustainably managing water resources.

WASH in Schools Target Challenge: Rotary challenges our members to develop sustainable projects that comprehensively address the most pressing water, sanitation, hygiene and education needs in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, India, and Kenya.

$24.00
is all it takes to provide one person with safe water
123.00
schools in Ghana have gained access to basic sanitation and hygiene services due to the Rotary-USAID partnership
$148.00million
The Rotary Foundation has invested in water, sanitation, hygiene and water resource management interventions globally