Malawi: if anywhere on earth was crying out for its villages to be transformed

Water

Almost 1 in 3 people in Malawi don't have clean water close to home. That's 5.7 million people

Toilets

10.4 million people don't have a decent toilet of their own: that's more than half the population

Pit-latrines are the most common form of toilet in Malawi but are also a major contributor to the contamination of drinking water.

Sanitation

1,000 children under the age of five die every year from diarrhea caused by dirty water, and poor toilets and hygiene.

Poor water and sanitation are estimated to account for over 50 per cent of Malawi’s disease burden. Over 60 per cent of Malawi’s population relies on drinking water contaminated with bacteria.

Disease

Malaria is the most common reported cause of morbidity and mortality, responsible for about 40% of hospitalization of under-five children and 40% of deaths according to WHO.

The poorest are worst affected, including the 1.5 million children who are orphaned or vulnerable, largely as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.