On the occasion of the Wilson Center's 50th anniversary, its Environmental Change and Security Program and nine co-sponsoring programs convened experts on November 28 from government, the NGO sector, and academia for a comprehensive look at the first year of the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy and new research and practice on water, peace, and conflict.
This blog post discusses key findings and lessons learned from an evaluation of the long-term sustainability of selected components from the USAID-funded Environmental Services Program (ESP) in Indonesia. The program was implemented from 2004–2010 and included capacity-building efforts to improve financing and management of Indonesian municipal water utilities.
View and filter USAID activities & projects with a safe drinking water focus.
Check out USAID Water's overview of safe drinking water.
USAID/Nigeria’s Effective Water and Sanitation Hygiene Services (E-WASH) project is an urban water and sanitation activity that will provide 500,000 families in six states access to a reliable supply of clean, piped water, to the benefit of three million Nigerians.
Under the four-year, $60.4 million E-WASH project, USAID will provide assistance to Abia, Delta, Imo, Niger, Sokoto, and Taraba states to improve the health and hygiene of their populations by improving delivery of water and sanitation services through stronger, better performing state water agencies.
Access to safe drinking water is one of the cornerstones of public health; however, more than 660 million people around the world still lack access to a dependable drinking water supply. USAID helps partner countries reach the poor and assist the underserved in gaining first-time or improved access to basic drinking water services, laying the foundation for a healthier and more water-secure future one neighborhood and community at a time.
World Water Day is observed annually on March 22 to raise awareness about the vital importance of water to everything from public health and youth education to economic development and gender equality.
In emergencies, safe drinking water is a priority to prevent disease. Chlorine is often used to treat drinking water, as it inactivates most bacteria and viruses that cause diarrheal disease and the remaining free chlorine residual (FCR) provides protection against recontamination in storage. For effective treatment, water should be dosed with enough chlorine to ensure that FCR is maintained for the length of storage time in the household. At the same time, levels high enough to exceed taste and odor acceptability thresholds should be avoided.
This course explores what can be done to solve the complex problem that half a billion people worldwide do not have improved water supplies and two billion do not have improved sanitation.The course has video lectures and guest interviews with leading water policy scholars and practitioners and discussion forums. In addition, participants will be assigned a challenging assignment that tackles real water and sanitation problems.
Instructors are Professor Dale Whittington and Dr. Duncan Thomas of the Manchester Business School.
Since 2009, a partnership between the Rotary and USAID has combined the local community leadership of Rotarian volunteers with the Agency’s technical expertise. Throughout, the focus of the program has been on accomplishing three goals: improving sanitation and hygiene in schools and health facilities; increasing community access to safe drinking water; and advocating for ample government financing of WASH—that is, water, sanitation, and hygiene.
Local communities in Southern Africa are facing severe water challenges regarding freshwater for drinking, sanitation, and other services. The Okavango and Limpopo river basins are key transboundary water bodies in this region, where USAID’s Resilient Waters Program operates.
