WASH & Community Health Program

Clean Water. Healthy Communities. Dignified Lives.

Access to safe water, sanitation, and basic health services is a human right but for many rural and conflict-affected communities in Cameroon, it remains out of reach. The WASH & Community Health Program of the Centre for Youth and Sustainable Development (CYSD) exists to close this gap by delivering practical, community-led solutions that save lives, restore dignity, and build long-term resilience.

Why This Program Matters

In hard-to-reach communities across the South West Region of Cameroon, families face:

  • Unsafe drinking water and long distances to water sources
  • Poor sanitation and open defecation
  • Preventable waterborne diseases (cholera, typhoid, diarrhea)
  • Limited access to primary healthcare and maternal health services
  • Low awareness of hygiene, nutrition, and disease prevention

Children miss school, women carry the heaviest burden, and preventable illnesses claim lives. CYSD’s WASH & Community Health Program responds with integrated, community-driven solutions that tackle root causes not just symptoms.

Our Goal

To improve health outcomes and quality of life for underserved communities by ensuring sustainable access to clean water, safe sanitation, hygiene education, and basic community health services.

Program Objectives

  • Increase access to safe and reliable water sources
  • Improve sanitation and hygiene practices at household and community levels
  • Reduce waterborne and hygiene-related diseases
  • Strengthen community knowledge on preventive health and nutrition
  • Support maternal, child, and adolescent health
  • Build community ownership and long-term sustainability

What We Do (Key Interventions)

1. Safe Water Access

  • Construction and rehabilitation of boreholes and protected wells
  • Installation of hand pumps and gravity-fed water systems
  • Community water management committees and maintenance training

2. Sanitation Improvement

  • Construction of gender-sensitive, child-friendly latrines
  • Promotion of Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)
  • Waste management and environmental sanitation campaigns

3. Hygiene Promotion

  • Handwashing education with soap
  • Menstrual hygiene management for girls and women
  • School-based WASH clubs and behavior change campaigns

4. Community Health Education

  • Health talks on malaria, cholera, typhoid, HIV/AIDS, and nutrition
  • Training of community health volunteers
  • Distribution of basic hygiene and health kits

5. Maternal & Child Health Support

  • Antenatal and postnatal health awareness sessions
  • Referral support to nearby health facilities
  • Nutrition education for mothers and caregivers

 

Who We Serve

  • Children and youth
  • Women and girls
  • Pregnant and nursing mothers
  • Internally displaced persons (IDPs)
  • Rural and hard-to-reach communities

Our Approach

  • Community-Led: Communities are involved from planning to implementation
  • Inclusive: Women, youth, and vulnerable groups actively participate
  • Sustainable: Local capacity building and ownership are central
  • Integrated: Water, sanitation, hygiene, and health are addressed together
  • Context-Sensitive: Designed for conflict-affected and fragile settings

Expected Impact

  • Reduced incidence of waterborne and hygiene-related diseases
  • Improved school attendance, especially for girls
  • Safer and more dignified sanitation practices
  • Stronger community knowledge on health and prevention
  • Healthier, more resilient communities

Alignment with Global Goals

This program directly contributes to:

  • SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
  • SDG 5: Gender Equality
  • SDG 4: Quality Education

Get Involved

Clean water and good health change everything. You can be part of this transformation.

  • Partner with us on WASH and health projects
  • Support our work through funding or in-kind donations
  • Volunteer or collaborate as a health or WASH professional