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Compassion Australia

Water and Sanitation

Water and Sanitation

One of the most urgent needs in the developing world today

Every day 2000 children die from waterborne diseases that are easily preventable.

Why Water and Sanitation is so important

2.4 billion people still lack access to adequate sanitation like toilet and sewage systems

502,000 CHILDREN

502,000 people die every year from diarrhoea caused by unclean water and poor sanitation

443 million school days

An estimated 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related illness

The average distance women in developing countries walk to collect water each day is around 6 kilometres

Sources: WHO; The Water Project; UN-Water

With the help of our supporters, Compassion is working to change this by providing access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene education for Compassion assisted children, their families and communities. The impact of safe water solutions is invaluable: it reduces disease and death, and promotes healthier lives which can improve economic and educational outcomes.

These solutions could be in the form of:

Water filters
Wells and water tanks
Toilets and showers
Hand washing stations

Access to safe water is one of the most urgent needs in the developing world today, and together, we are giving families and communities hope and practical solutions.

For every $1 donated

80% goes to program, 20% to administration

80%

Program development and delivery

80% goes to program, 20% to administration

20%

Administration and fundraising costs

See exactly where your money goes

Water and Sanitation Stories

Feature Story

The Global Impact of Clean Water

While millions of people around the world don’t have access to improved water sources, Compassion is at work to provide clean, safe drinking water for children in and their families living in poverty. .. Read more

FAQs

How does Critical Needs work with Child Sponsorship?
Critical Needs and the Child Sponsorship Program work side-by-side to equip Compassion's local church partners with the resources to provide holistic support and long-term, customised solutions for children, their families and communities. While the Child Sponsorship Program connects one child with one sponsor, Critical Needs giving is not directed to one child, but provides essential support to thousands of Compassion registered children when they need it most. Every child will benefit from Critical Needs during their time in Compassion’s program, as sponsorship funds alone are not sufficient to cover the varied and often urgent needs of the children we support.

You can choose to support children globally through Critical Needs or fund an entire project in a specific community. These projects are both reactive and proactive and could include water filters to provide safe water to a community, reconstruction of homes after natural disasters, or income generating activities for adolescents and children's caregivers. The right assistance is identified and provided by the local church in partnership with Compassion.

You can:
- Give to Critical Needs
- Sponsor a child
What is Compassion's Highly Vulnerable Children fund?

Compassion's Highly Vulnerable Children fund offers a lifeline to children in Compassion's programs facing unthinkable hardship and living in high-risk situations.

This includes: children who have been orphaned (or youth-headed households), children whose primary caregiver is incapacitated, children who have suffered abuse or exploitation, and children with special needs.

Together with the local church, Compassion identifies children in highly vulnerable situations and provide them with specialised care and assistance to ensure they are stabilised and can continue to participate in Compassion's program.

Examples of help given to these children can include: immediate housing arrangements, trauma counselling, nutritional support and provision of every day needs, legal assistance and renovations to structures and shelters.

The Highly Vulnerable Children fund goes beyond the response of sponsorship to ensure children are kept safe and continue to be given opportunities to grow and develop without facing immediate risks to their safety and well-being.
What is Critical Needs?
The effects of poverty are devastating and affect every area of a child's life. Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program sets the foundation for life-changing opportunities for every registered child. But every child will, at some point, require help beyond sponsorship's reach.

Critical Needs provides the additional support necessary for Compassion assisted children to be released from poverty in Jesus' name. Through Critical Needs, supporters like you who are passionate about particular issues, such as safe water, or caring for mothers and babies, can help children most in need worldwide, or support specific projects in vulnerable communities. There are nine Critical Needs areas that you can choose to support, each area addressing an essential aspect of a child's health and development.

The nine Critical Needs are:
Because we believe that poverty is best addressed through the transformation of the individual child, Critical Needs provides support alongside Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program, not as stand-alone community development activities.
Can I sponsor a specific mother and child in Compassion Mums and Babies?
While you can now sponsor a child from age one through Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program, we cannot offer one-to-one sponsorship of mums and babies before a child's first birthday. Compassion Mums and Babies provides urgent survival support for young families in crisis situations. In a child's first year of life, Compassion staff are focused on helping babies survive and families adjust to life with their new arrival. Once the critical first year is over, Compassion staff can turn their attention to child development and establishing the invaluable one-to-one sponsorship relationships that help children grow in confidence and have hope for their future.

Donations of any amount to Compassion Mums and Babies are graciously received. You will be providing young families with critical support during the vulnerable prenatal months and first year of life.

Alternatively, Compassion's Child Sponsorship Program is specifically designed for one-to-one sponsorship, offering children and sponsors the opportunity to benefit from a two-way relationship.

You can:
- Give to Mums and Babies
- Sponsor a child
- Learn more about the Child Sponsorship Program
Why does the cost to support an entire Mums and Babies survival project vary between countries?
The care that families receive from Mums and Babies is specific to them, and differs between countries based on children’s needs and the availability and accessibility of government or other support services. This means the cost to support an entire Mums and Babies survival project also varies between countries ($15,000 - $25,000 per year), and has been determined by the price of local services, families' specific needs and currency conversions.

For example, in Thailand, free universal healthcare is available to families—but not always accessible, especially in remote areas. Instead of replacing existing services, your support empowers Compassion staff to assess and meet each family’s individual and most urgent needs. For children in Thailand, this includes providing educational and health support to increase rates of breastfeeding, helping to prevent undernutrition and stunting for newborns.

You can support Mums and Babies for $12 per month or another amount of your choosing. You can also give through a one-off financial contribution. These contributions are pooled to support mothers and babies all around the world.

If you are interested in supporting an entire Mums and Babies survival project, please contact us.

You can:
- Give to Mums and Babies
- Contact us for more information