For people displaced by conflict, access to clean water and appropriate sanitation facilities are amongst the most urgent of all needs.
Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) promotion
Without enough safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene, it is difficult to maintain good health and fight off illnesses. Without proper sanitation, water supplies can become contaminated and diseases can spread rapidly. We specialise in WASH services to protect the public health of displaced people and local communities, and to help protect their right to safe water and sanitation.
The lack of access to WASH facilities in shelters or camps deprives displaced families of the opportunity to make their shelters into homes, and their settlements into communities. By providing appropriate water and sanitation infrastructure, and educating people on good hygiene practices, we help displaced families achieve dignified living conditions.
Our expertise in water, sanitation and hygiene
Our WASH programmes seek to save lives, prevent diseases, promote dignity, and support access to better living conditions and livelihood opportunities. We do this through direct interventions, in collaboration with our shelter, education and livelihoods and food security experts, and through partnerships with other organisations. The mode of operation we choose depends primarily on the WASH needs of our targeted beneficiaries, and the quickest and most effective way to meet those identified needs.
We recognise that the need for water and sanitation goes beyond public health concerns. The absence of functioning, safe and sex-segregated latrines or toilets can discourage children and youth, especially girls, from attending school. We actively support the right to education by ensuring safe WASH facilities at schools are accessible to all students and teachers. Our WASH teams collaborate with teachers and administrators on delivering up-to-date hygiene promotion curricula.
Without enough safe water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene, it is difficult to maintain good health and fight off illnesses. Without proper sanitation, water supplies can become contaminated and diseases can spread rapidly. We specialise in WASH services to protect the public health of displaced people and local communities, and to help protect their right to safe water and sanitation.
The lack of access to WASH facilities in shelters or camps deprives displaced families of the opportunity to make their shelters into homes, and their settlements into communities. By providing appropriate water and sanitation infrastructure, and educating people on good hygiene practices, we help displaced families achieve dignified living conditions.
Our expertise in water, sanitation and hygiene
Our WASH programmes seek to save lives, prevent diseases, promote dignity, and support access to better living conditions and livelihood opportunities. We do this through direct interventions, in collaboration with our shelter, education and livelihoods and food security experts, and through partnerships with other organisations. The mode of operation we choose depends primarily on the WASH needs of our targeted beneficiaries, and the quickest and most effective way to meet those identified needs.
We recognise that the need for water and sanitation goes beyond public health concerns. The absence of functioning, safe and sex-segregated latrines or toilets can discourage children and youth, especially girls, from attending school. We actively support the right to education by ensuring safe WASH facilities at schools are accessible to all students and teachers. Our WASH teams collaborate with teachers and administrators on delivering up-to-date hygiene promotion curricula.
A total of 3,396,458 people benefited from our water, sanitation and hygiene work in 2023.
WASH focuses on five thematic areas:
- Supplying safe water for drinking, cooking, personal hygiene and household cleaning.
- Providing and maintaining latrines or toilets segregated by gender, or family units that are safe for women, girls, men and boys to use at all times.
- Active disease surveillance and increased vigilance on water quality and sanitation practices during disease outbreaks.
- Solid waste management and site drainage activities, to reduce standing water and garbage where disease-carrying mosquitos or vermin can breed.
- Hygiene promotion and community mobilisation to promote safe hygiene and health-seeking behaviours, and to empower displaced people to take an active role in WASH operations.
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NRC's areas of expertise
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EducationDisplacement has a devastating impact on learning, and often leads to education being interrupted or denied. NRC works to ensure that children and youth forced to flee can access high-quality, safe, inclusive and relevant learning opportunities.
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Legal assistance (ICLA)People forced to flee frequently lose access to rights and services. Legal frameworks can either perpetuate displacement and discrimination or serve as instruments of protection and durable solutions. NRC assists people to navigate these frameworks, so they can exercise their rights.
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Livelihoods and food securityDuring conflicts and disasters, food production and market systems face collapse. People can lose their assets and even their ability to earn a living. NRC works to ensure that people forced to flee can exercise their right to an adequate standard of living.
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Protection from violenceWhen people are forced to flee their homes, they often experience ongoing threats to their safety. NRC help to ensure displaced people are protected, by preventing and responding to violence, coercion, and actions taken by others to deny them their rights.
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Shelter and settlementsLosing one’s home is devastating. Many people forced to flee are struggling to find a safe place to stay, leaving them exposed to risks like weather, illnesses and violence. NRC supports people with housing within safe and healthy settlements.
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Water, sanitation and hygieneAccess to clean water and sanitation facilities is among the most urgent of all needs. Without proper sanitation, water supplies can become contaminated and disease can spread rapidly. NRC works to ensure that people forced to flee have access to safe water.