Unsafe or inadequate access to sustainable water, sanitation, and hygiene services negatively affects public health and related development indicators in South Sudan. Only 41 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water, 11 percent has access to basic sanitation, and 63 percent practice open defecation (UNICEF/World Health Organization 2019 Joint Monitoring Program Report). South Sudan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation reported that 30-50 percent of boreholes are non-functional at any point in time. USAID supports the construction and rehabilitation of water points and sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion as part of an integrated approach to reducing the transmission of water-related diseases in 13 priority counties. It also integrates protective measures to prevent sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls, a pervasive phenomenon in South Sudan that is frequently experienced by women and girls during their travel to water points.
PACT