Building Safe Water into Rwanda’s Health System to Save Lives
Country: Rwanda
Amount: $1,500,000
Duration: 2 years
Problem
Unsafe water is one of the largest contributors to child mortality globally.
Scalable, low-cost, proven delivery systems, such as inline chlorination and integration into primary care services, are often neglected by governments and donors.
Many households lack free access to treated water, even in remote areas or where piped water is untreated.
Approach
The project aims to shift global norms by advancing free water treatment through two strategies:
working with the Rwandan government to scale context-specific systems into their healthcare package;
and disseminating evidence to global institutions like WHO and major donors.
Path to Scale
This program builds on existing infrastructure (e.g. inline chlorination) to deliver a proven, life-saving intervention. Proving its success in Rwanda would demonstrate its feasibility to governments, and other donors, creating opportunities for national scale-up and adaptation in other countries.
Why we think the grant is cost-effective
With costs as low as $2,000–$5,000 per child’s life saved, water treatment is among the most cost-effective health interventions, comparable to vaccinations and antimalarial bed nets.
Leveraging existing delivery systems further reduces costs, enabling large-scale rollout at minimal expense.