Children’s Health and Clean Water: Improving Lives from the Start

Limited access to clean water and sanitation is a direct contributor to poor children’s health and wellbeing outcomes worldwide. 144 million children under-5 globally are stunted due to malnutrition, and Diarrhoea is a leading cause of death in children under-5 (UNICEF, 2021; WHO, 2017).  

Water is essential to human development, particularly in childhood, when the risk of waterborne disease can significantly impact physical and cognitive development. Alongside the negative health impacts of poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) availability, it also exacerbates existing issues, such as gender inequality and poverty. For example, women and girls are disproportionately impacted by insufficient WASH systems due to their role in water fetching, often having to miss out on educational and economic opportunities to get water for their families. Clean water access is a prerequisite to sustainable development, and it is vital to ensure healthy childhood development to foster successful futures for all children.

Malawi: Children and Water

1 in 3 Malawians do not have convenient access to safe water. The insufficiencies in Malawi’s WASH landscape have led to critical health outcomes for underserved children. Diarrhoea rates amongst under-5s are 25%, and 42% of children in Malawi suffer from stunting because of poor water quality (UNICEF, 2020). Annually, over 3,000 children under-5 die from Diarrhoea. The health risks of contaminated water use and consumption have devastating impacts on children in Malawi. Along with access to clean water, other WASH services significantly contribute to the children’s health and wellbeing.

Sanitation and Hygiene

Safe sanitation and hygiene practices must coincide with clean water access to ensure the best environment for childhood development. Less than half of Malawi’s population uses safely managed sanitation services, leading to many Malawians using sanitation services and practices that are potentially harmful to human and environmental health (WHO/UNICEF JMP, 2021). Unsafe sanitation practices, such as Open Defecation, pose serious health risks, especially to children. Hygiene practices in Malawi are also largely deficient, as only 8% of the population have access to handwashing facilities with soap and water (UNICEF, 2023). The poor WASH access for children in Malawi further extends through the limited WASH services in schools. Only 23% of schools in Malawi have improved sanitation services, and less than 5% of schools have adequate handwashing facilities (WaterAid, 2023).

Water is a fundamental building block in fostering a healthy, positive start in life. Pump Aid recognises the crucial role water plays in children’s health and wellbeing. We aim to improve lives at the start through ensuring safe water access. Our mission to end water poverty by 2030 is rooted in sustainable development ensuring current and future generations can thrive.

Learn more about our approach to reliable water access.

Help us foster healthy child development in Malawi by making a donation to Pump Aid.