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Young Chechen boys drink from a water pump.

Water is a basic need of humanity. Life and death are inextricably linked to the availability and cleanliness of this resource. Millions, however, are left without such access. Some of Islamic Relief’s most important development projects to prevent future disasters include installing and cultivating water resources in under-privileged regions of the world.

An example of Islamic Relief’s work in this important sector is making water contaminated by arsenic safe to drink.

Arsenic is a notoriously poisonous metalloid that has many allotropic forms; yellow, black and gray are a few that are regularly seen. Arsenic contamination of groundwater has led to a massive epidemic of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh and neighboring countries. It is estimated that approximately 57 million people are drinking groundwater with arsenic concentrations elevated above the World Health Organization's (WHO) standard of 10 parts per billion. (from Wikipedia)

Islamic Relief has also constructed deep-tube wells and community bathrooms in Bangladesh, and provides clean drinking water and promotes proper hygiene practices in Pakistan. In addition, Islamic Relief has distributed hygiene packs to internally displaced families in Chechnya and constructed water supply and sewage systems in Kosova.

According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF):

• 1 billion people do not have access to safe water
• 2.6 billion live without basic sanitation
• Millions of people in the developing world, including an estimated 425 million children under the age of 18, still do not have access to an improved water supply
• Over 980 million children still do not have access to adequate sanitation
• Of all babies born in the developing world each year, around half live without basic sanitation and one in five without access to safe drinking water, increasing the risk of water-borne illness
• Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation, combined with poor hygiene, contribute to the deaths of more than 1.5 million children under the age of five
• Factors such as illness, the daily journey to collect water and the absence of hygienic facilities in schools keep older children – particularly girls – out of class and uneducated, perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

Islamic Relief currently operates water and sanitation projects in several countries around the world, including: Indonesia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Chechnya, Kosova, and the Palestinian territories.