Every day, UNICEF workers brave war zones, treacherous terrain, disasters and disease to make the world safe for kids. UNICEF has helped improve 150 million people's water in the past four years.
Kids need UNICEF now more than ever:
- 2.2 billion people don’t have access to safe drinking water
- Every year, 297,000 children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea linked to inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene
- Around 335 million girls don’t have water and soap to wash their hands when changing their sanitary pads at school. As a result, many girls will drop out once they get their periods
- Girls and women are often threatened by violence and sexual assault on their journeys to fetch safe water for their families
- UNICEF predicts climate change will cause extreme water stress for almost 600 million children by 2040
- 4.4 billion people live without safely managed sanitation; 1.4 billion don’t have even the most basic facilities for washing their hands at home
- Children under 15 are almost three times more likely to die from diarrhea, cholera and other diseases linked to unsafe water and sanitation than they are from direct violence
“When I see water flowing in a community, what I feel is immeasurable,” says UNICEF South Sudan's Josaphat Kambale. He spent much of his childhood fetching water. That’s why he now works providing water in South Sudan — so kids can learn and play.
How many kids can you help today?
Just $25 can give five children clean, safe water for a year.
Why donate to UNICEF? It's a smart way to make your money go further for children:
- UNICEF gets results: Last year, 18.6 million people received safe drinking water, and 10.8 million basic sanitation. Since 2000, 2.1 billion people have gained access to basic sanitation, such as flush toilets or latrines
- UNICEF tackles tough problems: In war-torn eastern Ukraine, where some families have gone months, even years, without running water or electricity, UNICEF helped give 1.9 million people continuous access to water, sanitation and hygiene
- UNICEF is undeterred: Despite four years of intense fighting in Yemen, UNICEF kept safe drinking water flowing to nearly 5 million people and vaccinated 732,000 against cholera
- UNICEF innovates to reach more children: In Somalia, UNICEF and partners are working to make lasting improvements by shoring up pipelines and reservoirs, drilling and testing boreholes and improving water system management and maintenance
- UNICEF is there helping when it really counts: UNICEF brought improved water and sanitation services to 3,355 health care facilities, enhancing the care and protection moms and their infants receive
- UNICEF makes water work for women and girls: UNICEF supported 1.3 million women and girls with menstrual health and hygiene services. In Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), menstrual hygiene products were given to 6,000 adolescent girls in 80 schools, where sanitary bins were added to latrines. In 7 countries where emergencies make daily life a struggle, UNICEF provided feminine hygiene products and support to nearly 34,000 girls and women with disabilities
Meet the UNICEF workers helping kids around the world
UNICEF: saving and changing lives
Meet Faten. She and her family used to live in Raqqa, Syria. But fighting drove her and her family to Hama, where they traded the threat of bombs for a new danger: unsafe water.
Meet more children helped by UNICEF
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