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2.
Then, improve
HEALTH
Save the Children’s health programs protect children and their mothers from
preventable disease and premature death. Through community action, the quality of
and access to services to marginalized communities are improved.
An area of special focus and expertise is environmental
health. According to recent World Bank reports, the
Middle East contains 5 percent of the world’s population
but holds only one percent of the world’s water. Only 52
percent of the population has access to clean water and
sanitation. Save the Children is an innovator in
environmental health in this region, using community
action and program expertise to protect water supplies
and a clean environment and supporting municipal
services that provide safe water, proper sewage disposal,
and sustainable solid waste management systems.
In the West Bank and Gaza, community-based
health programs improve access to and quality of
health care services and facilities, especially for mothers
and children. These model programs also promote lifestyle
changes that help children to live, learn, and play
in healthy, safe ways. Environmental health education
campaigns—stressing the connection between health
and hygiene—build community awareness of and
action on behalf of environmental issues and solutions.
Save the Children also helps build wells for clean
drinking water and to restore water and sanitation
systems. Agricultural and irrigation training
helps families better conserve and utilize scarce
natural resources.
PHOTOS LEFT AND RIGHT: MICHAEL BISCEGLIE
A Save the Children-trained volunteer talks with an Egyptian mother about healthy practices and
behaviors that protect her life and promote her baby’s growth and development.
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