by Genevieve Edens, Head of Impact, WaterEquity
On World Health Day, we often talk about health systems and disease prevention. But for a lot of families in low-income communities, health starts with something basic. Do you have safe water at home? Do you have a toilet you can use safely? As one paper in the Lancet put it, “Sanitation is the single greatest human achievement with regard to health, yet in much of the world it is underappreciated or inaccessible.”
An estimated 1.4 million people died from entirely preventable diseases in 2019 due to unsafe water and sanitation. The challenge is not a lack of solutions. We know what works: supplying enough water, treating it for drinking, and containing, disposing, and treating waste. The constraint is financing.
Water and sanitation systems in emerging markets remain structurally underfunded, despite their central role in public health and economic productivity. WaterEquity was established to address this gap by investing directly in water and sanitation solutions across emerging markets. Our investments span the water value chain, including financial institutions that offer affordable water and sanitation loans mainly for household self-supply, and into infrastructure that delivers water and sanitation to vulnerable communities.
In Cambodia, WaterEquity’s investment in First Finance illustrates how access to financing for improved water and sanitation can support healthier living conditions at the household level. First Finance is a microfinance institution that provides micro‑housing loans to low‑ and middle‑income households, including financing for home improvements such as safe sanitation facilities. Through a $3 million loan from the Everspring Fund, WaterEquity supports First Finance’s efforts to expand access to improved housing and sanitation solutions. One borrower, Chuon Mom, used a loan to replace an unsafe and unhygienic bathroom with a proper sanitation facility as part of a new home. Since completing the improvements, she reports a cleaner, safer living environment and shared that her youngest child now gets sick less often, which she attributes to improved sanitation and water use.
2.1 billion people still lack access to safe water and 3.4 billion don’t have proper sanitation. The World Bank estimates that developing countries need to almost triple their spending on water and sanitation to bridge that gap. Stepping up to address this, Reckitt, Ecolab and Colgate-Palmolive, global companies with a strong focus on health and hygiene, have invested in WaterEquity’s Everspring Fund, supporting scalable financing for water and sanitation solutions across Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where access gaps remain large and water stress is accelerating.
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n India, WaterEquity’s investment in Varthana Finance supports the expansion of access to safe water and sanitation in underserved school communities. Through a $6 million loan, the proceeds are deployed exclusively toward school improvement loans that incorporate water, sanitation, and hygiene infrastructure. This financing enables affordable private schools to provide clean drinking water, improved sanitation facilities, and promote healthy hygiene practices for students. With deep reach across peri urban and rural India, Varthana is positioned to scale water and sanitation infrastructure across its network of affordable private schools.
Learn more here: Varthana Secures $6 Million Loan from WaterEquity for School WASH Projects
On World Health Day, the takeaway is simple. Reliable water and sanitation underpin health outcomes and long-term resilience. In many communities, the constraint is not technology. It is financing. Closing that gap will take sustained investment that strengthens the systems families rely on every day.