The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has recently granted a donation of $10.9 million to sanitation and hygiene projects in poor and rural areas in Vietnam and Cambodia, the US-based non-governmental organization East Meets West (EMW) reported on Wednesday. 
It is estimated that 50 percent of households in Vietnam and 80 percent of households in Cambodia do not have sanitation facilities. And the poor hygiene practices in the countries like open defecation and the unsafe disposal of human waste have resulted in an estimated 17,000 deaths annually, mostly in children under 5.
It has also caused the nations to suffer an economic loss of $1.2 billion a year due to the consequences of the inappropriate sanitation situation.
Besides building and improving hygiene facilities, the donation is also aimed at making positive changes in behaviors among people living in poor and rural households.
“As countries like Vietnam stand poised to advance economically, poor sanitation and hygiene practices threaten to cripple our progress, creating a breeding ground for illness, decreasing the productivity of adults and threatening human lives,” said Nguyen Minh Chau, Vietnam country director for East Meets West – the agency entrusted to receive the sum from the foundation.
“We’re working with our local partners to […] ensure healthier communities.”
To invest the sum of donation for maximum effectiveness in Vietnam, EMW will consult and go in partnership with local agencies as the Vietnam Women’s Union, Vietnam Bank for Social Policies and the Health Environmental Management Agency of the Ministry of Health.
Since 1988, East Meets West has invested over $105 million in Asia, and is now running programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines and Timor Leste.
Clean-up of waste in a river in Hanoi
The grant is the first of its kind from the foundation for hygiene aid.It is estimated that 50 percent of households in Vietnam and 80 percent of households in Cambodia do not have sanitation facilities. And the poor hygiene practices in the countries like open defecation and the unsafe disposal of human waste have resulted in an estimated 17,000 deaths annually, mostly in children under 5.
It has also caused the nations to suffer an economic loss of $1.2 billion a year due to the consequences of the inappropriate sanitation situation.
Besides building and improving hygiene facilities, the donation is also aimed at making positive changes in behaviors among people living in poor and rural households.
“As countries like Vietnam stand poised to advance economically, poor sanitation and hygiene practices threaten to cripple our progress, creating a breeding ground for illness, decreasing the productivity of adults and threatening human lives,” said Nguyen Minh Chau, Vietnam country director for East Meets West – the agency entrusted to receive the sum from the foundation.
“We’re working with our local partners to […] ensure healthier communities.”
To invest the sum of donation for maximum effectiveness in Vietnam, EMW will consult and go in partnership with local agencies as the Vietnam Women’s Union, Vietnam Bank for Social Policies and the Health Environmental Management Agency of the Ministry of Health.
Since 1988, East Meets West has invested over $105 million in Asia, and is now running programs in Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines and Timor Leste.
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