Progress report for
World Vision’s Pledge to Accelerate Progress for SDG 6
Achievement at a glance
World Vision is committed to the realisation of SDG 6—ensuring the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. This is our first progress report since World Vision committed to reaching 30 million people with clean water, 30 million with dignified sanitation, and 35 million with improved sanitation between FY23 and FY30. We also committed to investing $2 billion in WASH programming by 2030. In FY23, we reached 3.1 million people with clean water, 2.5 million people with improved sanitation, and 2.9 million people with handwashing facilities. Our total spending on WASH in FY23 was $207 million.In support of our commitment to transition away from community wells with hand pumps toward sustainably managed piped-water networks, 65% of our water points were household water connections in FY23, 33% were community taps, and only 2% were hand pumps. To support operations and maintenance of water services, we worked with communities to establish and train 5,534 water committees.
In addition to our efforts in households, we provided 444 healthcare facilities and 1,562 schools with access to basic drinking water services, 322 healthcare facilities and 1,087 schools with access to basic sanitation services, and 626 healthcare facilities and 3,232 schools with access to basic handwashing facilities.
We are committed to reaching the most vulnerable people in fragile contexts. In FY23, 93% of people reached by our WASH programmes were in fragile contexts. In response to humanitarian needs created by civil war, drought and food crises, we provided 730,000 people with emergency water and 1 million people with emergency hygiene supplies.
Another top priority and commitment of our work is to empower women and girls. To that end, we reached nearly 1.5 million women and girls with clean water, saw 2,290 women become active in WASH-related businesses, and trained 4,045 women on advocacy to help ensure the sustainability of water points.
Challenges faced in implementation
While overall results were strong, we experienced challenges in some countries. For example, hygiene targets in Sudan were not met due to conflict, school WASH targets in Zambia were not met due to delays in completing two large piped water projects, and sanitation targets in Zimbabwe were not met due to high costs of latrine construction. Some countries in Latin America faced challenges due to inflation, elections, civil unrest, and difficulty procuring materials, while some countries in the Middle East region experienced conflict, displacement, natural disasters, and drought.Next Steps
At the start of each fiscal year, we bring our national WASH teams together for regional workshops to plan for the year ahead. These workshops are a time for WASH teams to evaluate the previous year’s achievements, discuss new strategies for improving results, and learn from each other’s experiences. This year, the workshops focus on four key topics: integrated water resource management, gender equality and social inclusion, creating a culture of quality for our work, and improving sanitation and hygiene strategies to achieve higher levels of service.For FY24, we aim to reach 3.2 million people with access to clean water, 3 million people with improved sanitation, and 3.7 million people with handwashing facilities. For FY25, we aim to reach 3.3 million people with access to clean water, 3.1 million people with improved sanitation, and 3.8 million people with handwashing facilities.
Beneficiaries
Our WASH programmes serve vulnerable children and families in 50 countries across six regions. In FY23, we reached 3.1 million people with clean water globally, including 1.3 million people in East Africa, 780,000 people in Southern Africa, 540,000 people in West Africa, 165,000 people in Asia-Pacific, 160,000 people in Latin America and Caribbean, and 120,000 in the Middle East. In FY23, 93% of people reached by our WASH programmes were in fragile contexts.
Actions
In FY23, we built 71,000 water points, with 65% of them household water connections, 33% community taps, and only 2% hand pumps. Over time, World Vision’s strategy for drinking water systems has evolved from boreholes with hand pumps to piped-water systems with distribution networks that deliver water as close to homes as possible (with household connections when feasible).World Vision embraces a multipronged approach to improving sanitation and hygiene services. We work simultaneously to bolster demand for sanitation products through tested and emerging methodologies, identify and fill supply gaps, engender behaviour-change through people-centered approaches, and improve governance and financing to drive district-wide universal service coverage. In FY23, we helped 475,000 households gain access to sanitation facilities and 575,000 households gain access to handwashing facilities. Given their role as influencers in their communities, we also trained 10,466 faith leaders on promotion of hygiene and sanitation behaviours.
In addition to our work in communities, we reached 1,562 schools with clean water, 1,087 schools with access to basic sanitation, and 3,232 schools with basic handwashing facilities. We provided 739 schools with access to improved sanitation for girls, with facilities to manage menstrual hygiene, and 787 schools with access to improved sanitation for children/youth with limited mobility. We also reached 444 healthcare facilities with access to a basic drinking water service, 322 with sanitation facilities, and 626 with handwashing facilities.
Everywhere World Vision works, we seek to empower community leadership and prioritise local water system maintenance and repair for sustainable service delivery. World Vision helps to strengthen water system management by promoting and supporting rural utility businesses and the use of private operators, training and equipping private repair technicians, and organising private spare parts suppliers to help ensure spare parts are available when needed. Where appropriate, we also support communities to form WASH committees or water-user associations with fee-collection systems to pay for maintenance and repair. Members are trained in water point operation and maintenance before infrastructure work begins. These women and men also receive training on water system management and learn to promote safe hygiene and sanitation practices at the water point and in their community. In FY23, we worked with communities to establish and train 5,534 water committees and ensure they have a financing system in place. We also trained 1,859 schools in planning and budgeting for WASH services.