Among the many causes for China’s remaining rural poverty, water scarcity, poor community sanitation, and ineffective waste management are critical issues threatening the long-term development of rural China. The World Bank estimates that a third of the world’s population without access to adequate safe drinking water and sanitation live in China, with the majority living in rural communities in western China. Despite the Chinese government’s efforts in the last fifteen years to improve water and sanitation, the country still falls behind the water or sanitation targets in its Millennium Development Goals. The majority of rural children and their families live in an environment that without access to reliable year-round safe water and basic sanitation.

Our goals in Community Driven Water, Environment and Sanitation Improvement projects are to help improve the health of children and families in program communities through increased access to sanitation and water supply and hygiene awareness; help communities to gain skills and knowledge through Community Driven Development Projects; assist national and local government agencies and NGOs to promote and adopt community driven development and increase rural water, environment, and sanitation improvement, lastly we help identify and test a viable community driven Water and Environmental sanitation improvement model and system to lend experience to the Chinese government’s strategy for rural poverty alleviation and development.