As of March 2024, 2.2 billion people worldwide lack access to clean drinking water and 3.5 billion people lack access to safely managed sanitation.
UNESCO World Water Development Report
Through water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs, Rotary’s people of action mobilize resources, form partnerships, and invest in infrastructure and training that yield long-term change.
Our impact on water, sanitation and hygiene
Clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education are basic necessities for a healthy environment and a productive life. When people have access to clean water and sanitation, waterborne diseases decrease, children stay healthier and attend school more regularly, and mothers can spend less time carrying water and more time helping their families.
The Rotary Foundation is changing the world by providing grants for projects and activities around the globe and in your own backyard.
Rotary is a global leader in Water and Sanitation projects
WASH Global Grant Projects
Since 2013, The Rotary Foundation has invested in more than $148 million in over 2000 projects worldwide. Through this investment, our volunteers of action have improved access to safely managed and basic WASH services to communities, schools and healthcare facilities, while protecting and conserving water resources.
Rotary-USAID WASH Partnership
Rotary and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) assist communities and governments to plan, finance and deliver safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, while sustainably managing water resources.
WASH in Schools Target Challenge
Rotary challenges our members to develop sustainable projects that comprehensively address the most pressing water, sanitation, hygiene and education needs in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, India, and Kenya.
Making Schools Healthier
The Rotary Club of Irvine has sponsored schools in India and Kenya to make clean drinking water accessible and hygiene safely accessible for children.
All 24 of Lebanon’s Rotary clubs came together — overcoming religious, cultural, and political divisions — to form partnerships with the government, World Vision, UNICEF, and the Red Cross. Together the groups developed a program that delivers clean water to every public school in the country.
Rotary clubs in Guatemala improved conditions for as many as 1,793 children in 10 schools in the town of Escuintla by providing toilets, washing stations, water tanks, and training.
Expanding Water Access to Entire Communities
Water filtration facilities were installed through a decades-long partnership between Rotary clubs and Coca Cola in Karachi, Pakistan. Rotarians also worked with the community to provide hygiene training and to teach community members how to operate and maintain the equipment to ensure sustainability.
In Nkwantanan, Amenfi Central District, Western Region of Ghana, Rotarians from 35 clubs across the country, in partnership with USAID and the national and local agencies of the government of Ghana, and with the support of Rotary clubs in the US and Canada, worked with local communities to improve sustainable access to clean water and sanitation services, foster the adoption of hygiene behavior, strengthen community management systems, and influence decision makers for prioritized financing of local water and sanitation services.
Explore Our Water Projects
With your help we can make a bigger impact locally and abroad.
Empower the Kids of Ghana
By giving the kids access to better resources to supplement their pursuit of education we are literally empowering them into securing the best possible futures…
Krista’s Climb for a Cause
Help me raise money for the underprivileged children of Nepal. Together we can make a change in the lives of children who are victims of…
Bose & HGS Children’s Sponsorship
We are raising money in conjunction with our contact center partner HGS to be donated to the Virlanie Foundation. Funds will be used to sponsor…
