
Drinking water, sanitation and hygiene to eliminate the cholera in rural Democratic Republic of the Congo
Location
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Southern and eastern districts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Africa.
Beneficiaries
10,000 childs, 5,000 woman and 5,000 men.
Duration
2011
Problems
Lack of access to drinking water and education on good hygiene practices.
Objectives
Improve access to drinking water, hygiene and sanitation in rural and semi-rural communities in endemic cholera areas.
Description
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, less than 29% of rural inhabitants have access to drinking water, and less than 31% have adequate sanitation facilities.
The lack of such basic services is a direct cause of diarrhoea, of which 14% of children under the age of five die annually, and epidemic outbreaks of cholera, which cause over 20,000 deaths per year, particularly in the provinces of Katanga, Orientale, North Kivu and South Kivu.
Improving access to drinking water and combating cholera
Thanks to this project to improve sanitation facilities and services, 20,000 people from 30 villages and areas close to cities could have better access to drinking water and be free of the threat of cholera, whilst 20,000 people could have access to better sanitation facilities.
In addition, 80% of households could use latrines in hygienic conditions and be able to maintain them.
80% of households could hygienically dispose of their own domestic waste.
60% of the population could be able to wash their hands before meals and after using latrines.
70% of the population could learn about the faecal-oral transmission of a disease and how to purify water at home.