In Uganda, access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services remains a major challenge, particularly in rural and underserved communities. According to UNICEF (2023), safe water coverage is 72% in urban areas and 70% in rural areas. Although Uganda has made progress in expanding sanitation services, access to safe sanitation is still limited—sanitation coverage stands at 90% in urban areas but drops to 77% in rural regions. Inadequate WASH is the third leading cause of illness and death among children under five in Uganda, and a significant factor contributing to malnutrition.

To address these challenges, ChildFund implements comprehensive interventions at both the community and household levels to improve access to safe water and sanitation facilities, while educating children and families on healthy hygiene practices to reduce the incidence of waterborne diseases.

Through school-based WASH initiatives, we enhance children’s learning outcomes and retention by ensuring clean, safe, and healthy learning environments. At the same time, we strengthen community health by building the capacity of local authorities and service providers and local water and sanitation committees to manage water sources.