CARE Launches Global Partnership With iDE and IDinsight To Expand Sanitation in Rural Areas
ATLANTA, August 11, 2025 /3BL/ - Globally, more than 3.6 billion people lack access to facilities and infrastructure to safely dispose of human waste, with dire consequences for public health as well as privacy concerns. To accelerate progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6, focused on ensuring access to sanitation and clean water for all, CARE is partnering with iDE and IDinsight—two mission-driven global organizations—to test and scale innovative market-based models that promote sanitation.
The new partnership aims to increase access to safe and durable household toilets by harnessing private sector solutions, government investments, community-led financial mechanisms, and rigorous evidence to measure success. While effective sanitation technologies already exist, systemic barriers—including weak sanitation supply chains, limited household access to finance, and low public investment—have stalled progress towards universal household sanitation, particularly in rural Sub-Saharan Africa.
The partnership will launch this month with a 1-year pilot program in Zambia , connecting sanitation entrepreneurs and public officials with Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) —CARE global flagship initiative that enables women to save and borrow money in the absence of a formal bank —to reinforce demand for sanitation, increase access to finance, and foster a new generation of sanitation entrepreneurs.
While government commitment and community awareness are key to bridging the sanitation gap, sanitation entrepreneurs and businesses are critical in ensuring that rural households have affordable sanitation options they will use and maintain. By increasing household sanitation access, CARE and partners seek to promote individual dignity and improve public health as diarrheal diseases remain a leading cause of mortality, morbidity, and malnutrition in many parts of the world.
This new partnership leverages the organizations’ collective resources and brings together each organization’s distinct strengths:
- CARE’s extensive on-the-ground presence and expertise in community engagement and institutional strengthening,
- iDE’s proven track record of developing and scaling market-based solutions for low-income communities, and
- IDinsight’s rigorous data analytics and evaluation capabilities.
CARE sees this partnership as a powerful opportunity to leverage its VSLA network and accelerate progress towards global sanitation. “By combining iDE’s market-driven sanitation expertise with CARE’s deep community relationships and financial inclusion platforms, we can unlock faster, more sustainable access to improved sanitation products and services,” said Rod Beadle, Director of CARE’s Water Team.
For Elise Mann, Global WaSH Director at iDE, the partnership is an opportunity for rural sanitation entrepreneurs to build their customer base, starting with early adopters who influence the wider community. “We know that VSLA members can play this early adopter role and accelerate investments in other households. Success means that more households will have safe toilets more quickly – improving their own health and security, and the health of their wider communities.”
IDinsight, a global leader in empowering decision-makers with data and evidence, will rigorously assess the model’s outcomes on improving people’s lives. “The partnership between CARE and iDE on market-based sanitation can leverage organizational complementarities as well as existing assets, footprints, and relationships to drive innovation, cost-effectiveness, and scalability,” said Rico Bergemann, Associate Director at IDinsight.
In Zambia, the partnership is working in collaboration with the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation, District and Ward governments, and other public sector institutions. There is urgency to this issue. “Currently, only half of Zambian households have safe sanitation, but the Government of Zambia has set a 90 percent household sanitation coverage target by 2030. There is a lot to do to increase sanitation uptake.” said Moses Mumba, Program Manager at CARE Zambia. “This pilot will help inform national and local government approaches to scaling sanitation and help achieve those ambitious targets.”
This partnership is designed to test a model that can be reproduced anywhere market conditions and community-led platforms are amenable. While the partnership aims to create accelerated pathways to close the sanitation gap in Zambia, in so doing, it will unlock complementary benefits across health, nutrition, education, and the economy—advancing opportunities and dignity for millions. “At a time when funding for foreign aid is increasingly scarce, solutions that are cost-effective, lifesaving and scalable are more important than ever,” said Anita Akella, CARE’s Director of Impact at Scale.
For media inquiries, please email usa.media@care.org
Note to editors:
About CARE: Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside women and girls. Equipped with the proper resources, women and girls have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty. In 2024, CARE worked in 121 countries, reaching 53 million people through 1,450 projects. To learn more, visit www.care.org
About iDE: iDE’s mission is to end global poverty. The organization believes that catalyzing the power of local markets is the best way to do this. iDE works with local entrepreneurs who connect underserved, last-mile markets with products and services that enable people to move up the economic ladder. iDE works in the sectors of agriculture, WaSH, and nutrition across 12 countries and has impacted more than 44 million people to date. To learn more, visit www.ide.org
About IDinsight: IDinsight is a global non-profit research, data analytics, and advisory organization that helps development leaders maximize their social impact. To learn more, visit: www.idinsight.org
