Water, sanitation and hygiene

16 March 2023, Cotabato City – On the occasion of Women’s Month, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government endorsed the new Oky Philippines Period Tracker App in Cotabato City developed by the Bangsamoro Government, UNICEF and Plan International. In BARMM, only around 1 out of 2 girls have access to menstrual hygiene…

Gwen Manzanilla, a Rural Sanitary Inspector in the municipality of Wao for 11 years, gushes her excitement as her hometown gets close to being the first Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) declared municipality in the province of Lanao Del Sur. “Our team is very happy and hopeful,” said Gwen. “My dream for Wao is for everyone, especially the children, to…, Nur-aimah Sala Sarip, WASH Officer/Senior Health Associate (left), and Gwen (right) are on their way to visit and assess a household in Barangay Buot., UNICEF Philippines/2022/Resa Salvador A sanitation officer speaking with members of a household UNIPH-2022-WTDMFO-5, Gwen talks with a resident of Barangay Buot who is installing a toilet behind their house., UNICEF Philippines/2022/Resa Salvador A sanitation officer inspects a toilet UNIPH-2022-WTDMFO-6, Gwen inspects a makeshift comfort room in one of the sitios in Barangay Buot., UNICEF Philippines/2022/Resa Salvador A toilet UNIPH-2022-WTDMFO-7, A toilet is being installed in one of the houses in Barangay Buot., UNICEF Philippines/2022/Resa Salvador A water pipe with two faucets attached UNIPH-2022-WTDMFO-8, Two households in Barangay share their source of water from a two-faucet water pipe., UNICEF Philippines/2022/Resa Salvador A WASH officer and a sanitation officer visiting a household A sanitation officer speaking with members of a household A sanitation officer inspects a toilet A toilet A water pipe with two faucets attached Ensuring ZOD programs are achieved requires a big investment. It encompasses top and bottom-level…

ILOILO CITY, 18 November 2022 – Almost one in four barangays in the Philippines have been certified as Zero Open Defecation (ZOD), with families in these communities having access to safe toilets and abandoning the practice of open defecation. While progress has been made in several municipalities and cities across the country, the 2021 Field…

14 October 2022, Marikina City – As the return to full face-to-face classes approaches, the Department of Education (DepEd) and partners highlight the need to increase access to handwashing facilities to create safe learning environments. The WHO-UNICEF Joint Monitoring Panel for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2021 update reveals that 64 percent of…

It’s 1:00 in the morning. Fourteen year old Junichelle Sumalinog is awakened by a cold, wet feeling creeping up under her back and a foul stench enveloping the room. The toilets have overflowed again. With a sigh, Junichelle and her six siblings get off the floor and sleep sitting up for the rest of the night. This is what Junichelle had to face…

Super Typhoon Odette (Rai) destroyed key houses and infrastructure damaging access to clean water. “The devastation caused by Typhoon Odette is too much to bear for a family with existing vulnerabilities. With the help of our donors, our aim in our WASH interventions is to reduce the risk of disease by providing safe water, installing access to…

Alona Eviota was already getting up at four each morning and trekking 30 minutes to the nearest spring to get water from when she was seven.  Her tiny arms carried buckets just so her family could have drinking water for the day. Twenty five years later, Alona’s own children no longer need to haul buckets as the local government has laid pipes…

With the threat of COVID-19 and other diseases, inadequate or totally damaged water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities can worsen the health of children and families in areas affected by Typhoon Odette (Rai). Through the support of the Government of Japan, UNICEF is providing lifesaving supplies and support to ensure that the most-affected…

Super Typhoon Odette (internationally named Rai) had left thousands of families in Caraga with limited access to clean water and proper sanitation & hygiene facilities last December 2021. For example, open defecation has grown rampant in some communities due to a lack of available latrines. Since then, we have been seeking to bridge these gaps…

It’s raining again in Siargao Island, in CARAGA region, Philippines. While most people’s instinct would be to get out of the rain, residents of the mountainside Barangay Magsaysay rush out to greet it, armed with pails and buckets. Magsaysay has no running water, and the few open wells are either difficult to get to, or drying up. When the rain…

12-year old Reyn Ambag is a grade 7 student residing in Barangay Baybay, Burgos in the island of Siargao. He goes to school in San Isidro National High School which is located in the Municipality of San Isidro. With Values Education as his favorite subject in school, Reyn has a knack for helping others. After observing the delays in restoring the…

Before Super Typhoon Odette made landfall in Siargao, Hacelmae Escobido and her family had already evacuated to the nearby school in their area. With the typhoon's destructive strong winds, it was fortunate enough that the room where they stayed was the only room left undamaged by Typhoon Odette. “I’m grateful that my family and I were safe,” she…