Tuan, a nine-year-old student from a rural village in Phu Binh District, at the new toilet facility.
Globally, over 400 million children globally lack decent toilets at school and over 600 lack access to handwashing facilities (source: UNICEF Joint Monitoring Report WASH in Schools, 2024).
In Vietnam, over 20% of primary school children lack access to handwashing facilities and almost 30% of school pupils (primary and secondary combined) lack access to basic sanitation services.
A lack of access to safe, clean sanitation and hygiene facilities in schools can have serious consequences for pupils, including exposure to water borne disease, anxiety, disruption to learning, and can even lead to absenteeism particularly among females.
As part of the community development programme initiated by the Climate Investor Two funded CA Water Phu Binh Water Supply Project, toilets were constructed in four primary and secondary schools in Phu Binh District, Thai Nguyen Province, Vietnam. Without the support of CA Water Phu Binh Water Supply Project, the schools did not have funds available for constructing new toilets.
Tuan, a nine-year-old student from a rural village in Phu Binh District, was overjoyed with the new toilets constructed at his primary school. “I am happy and I like the new toilets because they are clean. I will use this every day. The new toilets are our dream!” exclaimed Tuan.
Before the construction of the new toilets, over 500 children had to share one toilet block at Tuan's school. Students spent considerable time waiting in line to use the facilities, which directly affected valuable learning and recreation time. Additionally, the lack of sufficient shelter to reach the toilet block further hindered students from using the toilet on rainy days.
With improvements in facilities such as these, not only will children’s health and hygiene benefit, but their education too.
