The Sanitation and Hygiene Fund

28/08/2026

What will it take to solve the global sanitation crisis?

In a recent episode of the ZuLoo Pōōdcast, our Executive Director Dominic O'Neill talked about why traditional sewer systems alone won't meet the world's growing sanitation needs and how non-sewered sanitation, water-efficient technologies, and new investment models could help create sustainable solutions.

🎧 Listen or watch the full episode - link in bio.

18/06/2024

613 million. That's the number of women and girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) that use materials that are not made for managing menstruation for their periods every month, i.e. more than 35% of the total menstruating population.

or lack of access can be driven by several factors from unavailability of products to high prices and lack of information about different product options. And this can have cross-cutting and pervasive impacts in the lives of women and girls.

It is time to turn things around.

As stated in the Dalberg study "Growth Potential of the Menstrual Hygiene Market in Invest for Jobs Countries", commissioned by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, "the menstrual product sector has growing market potential and presents a unique opportunity (for Invest for Jobs) to attract investment and create scalable jobs alongside cross-cutting impacts.'' In Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana and Rwanda alone, total menstrual product sales are estimated to be worth USD 1.9 billion annually - despite the limited access to commercially available products by large parts of the population.

Building menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) markets offers an opportunity to remove barriers to equal participation of women in societies and create opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs, job-seekers and businesses.

Investing in markets to ensure safe, quality and affordable products of choice for all is an opportunity to create the thriving women and girls around the world rely on, and deserve.

05/06/2024

Today on , here are five quick facts underlining the links between , and and the .

As the world looks at ways to protect the environment, reduce our environmental impact and chart a for all, sustainable and , with circularity built in, can offer a promising pathway - let’s not flush the opportunity away.

03/06/2024

28/05/2024

Today on Day, SHF is committed to do its part to ensure women and girls everywhere can access safe, quality and affordable of choice. Because a is possible when we reimagine the and the opportunities it offers for women and girls’ choice, agency and opportunities to thrive!



Sources for statistics (https://www.fsg.org/resource/advancing-gender-equity-improving-menstrual-health/; https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00WFJC.pdf)

23/05/2024

As the continues in Bali this week, SHF continues to advocate for greater prominence and investment in , and through our virtual attendance and partners.

As stated by our Executive Director Dominic O' Neill in the remarks to the session on the , "sanitation, hygiene, menstrual health and wastewater management go to the core of achieving , and a whole raft of other Sustainable Development Goals including better and .
[It is time to] bring the best thinking and lessons learnt on sustainable development finance into a sector which has been woefully neglected and has not yet not benefited from the financial innovations that are now driving impact and investment in other sectors."

To learn more about how SHF is working toward driving this much-needed financing toward vibrant, climate-resilient and , visit www.shfund.org

22/05/2024

"Money poured into and can reduce up to 60% of the disease burden in Uganda and then you can have guaranteed returns on investments. Catastrophic expenditures on health could be averted and invested in other areas. Development partners must see and use this. Curing diseases starts with sanitation and hygiene; together we can be saving money and most importantly, saving lives." - Dr Herbert Nabaasa, Health Commissioner, Ministry of Health - Uganda.

A timely reminder ahead of the next week!

Read more about the bold steps Uganda is taking to tackle the sanitation-health-climate nexus in this exclusive interview of Dr Nabaasa with SHF: https://shfund.org/media/curing-diseases-starts-sanitation-and-hygiene-interview-ugandas-health-commissioner-dr

16/05/2024

"With the climate crisis accelerating globally, public health crises linked to poor or absent sanitation and hygiene infrastructure risk becoming more frequent and deadlier, especially for women and children. We cannot wait to act."

Dr Diana Atwine, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health - Uganda and SHF's Dominic O' Neill emphasize how investment in and is an investment in individual, public and planetary health in this article published in Uganda's Daily Monitor this week.

Read the article in full re-published here: https://shfund.org/media/better-health-our-hands

02/05/2024

When we talk about the , what are we referring to and why does it matter? Here is a quick 101 guide to and the impact potential they offer for people, economies and the planet.

You can also dive deeper into this fascinating ecosystem by reading our recent report on sanitation economy estimates in five countries in Africa available on the link below, a multibillion dollar opportunity awaits!

https://www.shfund.org/media/untapped-sanitation-economies-worth-almost-usd-19-billion-five-african-countries-alone

25/04/2024

“Building resilient and means powering local businesses, communities and economies, at each stage of the value chain.” - Cecilia Akintomide, Chair, SHF.

Dive into our 2023 out now to discover how, through our gender- and climate-focussed projects and partnerships, we are contributing to these critical pillars for a sustainable future, hedging against future environmental and health risks especially in the climate crisis.

https://www.shfund.org/resources/annual-reports

A sincere thank you to our donors, the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Switzerland, and all of our partners for being a part of our ambition and journey to radically transform how , and health are viewed and funded.

Here's to greater, deeper collective impact in 2024 and beyond!