Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) entails the provision of safe water for drinking and other domestic use, the safe disposal of waste (toilet and other waste), and health promotion activities to encourage protective healthy behavioral practices amongst the population. Nearly 90 percent of Uganda’s 37 million people live in small towns and rural areas, and roughly two-thirds of them lack access to safe water.
More Water Facts
Over half the population in Uganda lacks a safe and hygienic place to go to the toilet.
8.8 million People in Uganda don’t have access to safe water. This is almost a quarter of the population.
Over 22 million people don’t have access to adequate sanitation in Uganda.
Over 12,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor hygiene in Uganda.
Key sanitation facts:
Pit latrine coverage in Uganda is low, 47%. A study done by UNICEF(1993) showed that pit latrine coverage was 20% and those families who have pit latrines but do not use them, while others have them but in poor hygienic conditions, and yet others do not have them at all. As a result of this, there is a high incidence of diseases caused by poor sanitary conditions, especially worm infestation and diarrhea diseases.
The absence of basic sanitation facilities can:
- Result in an unhealthy environment contaminated by human waste. Without proper sanitation facilities, waste from infected individuals can contaminate a community’s land and water, increasing the risk of infection for other individuals. Proper waste disposal can slow the infection cycle of many disease-causing agents
- Contribute to the spread of many diseases/conditions that can cause widespread illness and death. Without proper sanitation facilities, people often have no choice but to live in and drink water from an environment contaminated with waste from infected individuals, thereby putting themselves at risk for future infection. Inadequate waste disposal drives the infection cycle of many agents that can be spread through contaminated soil, food, water, and insects such as flies.
Tourism has the potential to build awareness around the issues and spur sustainable development in at-risk destinations, including waste management and sanitation infrastructure. However, unplanned tourism and excessive tourist consumption also can lead to aggravated waste and water issues in destinations.
ISSUES WE’RE ADDRESSING
- Low quality of water
- Sanitation
- Hygiene
What are the Solutions?
Africa Sustainable Tourism Care Foundation’s water and sanitation programs help communities obtain adequate supplies of safe water and sanitation facilities by drilling new borehole wells, repairing existing wells, developing spring and rainwater catchments, providing water storage, building community filtration systems, and constructing household latrines, refuse dumps, and surface water drainage systems. These initiatives become sustainable as community members are trained to repair and maintain pumps and water sources and serve on water and sanitation committees that oversee community improvements. Africa Sustainable Tourism Care Foundation also initiates hygiene education for children and adults, including proper hand and face washing to prevent disease.
ASTCF fosters community-based approaches for sanitation, to empower communities to end open defecation themselves. Communities are encouraged to carry out an analysis of existing defecation patterns and threats and to use local resources to build low-cost household toilets and ultimately eliminate the practice of open defecation. This approach is often referred to as Community Approaches Total Sanitation (CATS) and has been particularly successful in our work in Uganda.