The overall objective of UNICEF's Water, Environment and Sanitation (WES) Programme is to contribute to child survival, protection and development by supporting efforts to achieve universal access to safe water supply and environmental sanitation services as a basic right and
by promoting the behavioural changes essential to realizing the full benefits from such services - in short, to improve the hygiene conditions in children's and families' environments. UNICEF presently supports WES projects in nearly 80 countries with 200 professional staff, both international and national. UNICEF's support for water supply and sanitation started in the late 1960s as a response to drought emergencies. Since then, UNICEF has supported government programmes for the provision of a minimum level of water supply and sanitation for those most in need.
Areas of expertise: Children's protection, water, environment and sanitation, education, health, nutrition, humanitarian emergency response
Media contact:
Karuna Nundy
Communications Officer Chief, Media Relations
3 UN Plaza
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1-212-245-2778
Fax: +1-212-326-7055
E-mail: knundy@unicef.org
The Year around the World
Key publications and resources
State of the World's Children UNICEF Annual Report We the Children": the Secretary-General's report
Action on the Ground
Public-Private Funding Brings Water to West African Villages
The West Africa Water Initiative, worth nearly $41 million, is a public-private partnership to provide potable water and sanitation to rural villages in Ghana, Mali and Niger. The initiative is a partnership between the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (providing $18 million over 7 years), USAID, World Vision, UNICEF, WaterAid, the Lions Club International Foundation, the Desert Research Institute, Winrock International, Cornell University's International Institute for Food, Agriculture and Development and the World Chlorine Council.
How to get involved?
State of the World's Children