Prioritizing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Ebola Recovery

The benefits of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are clear and well understood. Improved WASH provision has direct impacts on health, education, dignity and gender equality and therefore on long-term development and prosperity.

But the reality is that the Ebola-affected countries in West Africa have some of the worst WASH coverage in the world. And this has had fatal impacts: poor WASH provision has limited the prevention and control of infection and exacerbated the impact and reach of the Ebola outbreak.

This briefing describes how the Ebola recovery process needs to strengthen public health services, including WASH improvements in schools, slum areas and more broadly to make WASH provision sustainable in communities.