Background
Access to clean water was declared a human right by the UN General Assembly in 2010. In Burundi, however, less than half of the population has access to clean drinking water. Due to high population density, poverty and inadequate infrastructure, many drinking water sources are considered polluted. This causes numerous diseases and still many people - especially children - die from water-borne diseases.
Of the 22 schools in the project municipality of Gisozi in Mwaro province, only three schools have access to drinking water on the school grounds. In the other schools, the children and teachers are dependent on bringing water from home or laboriously fetching it from rivers and springs in the surrounding area. This disrupts learning at the schools considerably, and the water is often contaminated. The hygienic conditions at the schools can be described as very poor, with only a few simple pit toilets for hundreds of students and teachers. Water for washing hands is often not available. The bad hygienic conditions in schools are often a factor in reduced learning success and increased school drop-out rates, especially among adolescent girls.