IRC and GiveWell launch safe water project for people in Nigeria, Chad, and Somalia

The International Rescue Committee (IRC), in partnership with GiveWell, has launched a major new initiative to deliver safe, clean drinking water to 1.75 million people living in some of the world’s most fragile humanitarian settings across Nigeria, Chad, and Somalia.

Through an innovative in-line chlorination (ILC) approach, the 18-month pilot will ensure that families affected by conflict and climate change can access safe water at scale.

The project will install chlorination devices directly into community and camp water systems, automatically dosing safe levels of chlorine at the point of collection.

By treating water at its source, the system eliminates the need for manual chlorination and supports consistent use across entire communities.

It also introduces a cost-effective model that can be scaled to serve both displacement settlements and host populations.

“Water chlorination is one of the most evidence-based and effective WASH interventions. It dramatically reduces diarrheal disease, safeguards against outbreaks like cholera, and protects children from the cycle of illness and malnutrition,” said David Miliband, President and CEO of the IRC.

“In partnership with GiveWell, we will not only deliver safe water to people affected by some of the world’s most challenging humanitarian crises, but also generate evidence on a highly cost-effective intervention that works.”

Access to safe water remains a matter of survival for millions in crisis-affected regions. It underpins nutrition, prevents disease, and enables health systems to function.

Yet conflict, displacement, and climate change continue to leave entire communities dependent on unsafe or contaminated water.

According to the World Health Organization, up to 1.4 million deaths each year could be prevented through improved access to safely managed water, sanitation, and hygiene services.

The IRC brings decades of experience providing WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) services in emergencies.

This pilot strengthens those systems by building local capacity for water quality monitoring and cost-effectiveness analysis, helping communities sustain chlorination practices long after the project ends.

“We expect this program will do even more than provide safe water to about 1.7 million people—it will generate important learnings about implementing cost-effective chlorination at scale in humanitarian settings. The data we collect by supporting this pilot program, and others like it, will inform our future grantmaking and help people more in the years ahead,” Elie Hassenfeld, Co-Founder and CEO of GiveWell.

GiveWell’s support builds on its existing partnership with the IRC, which has previously expanded access to malnutrition treatment in five countries.

Together, the two organizations are committed to showing that lifesaving interventions can also be highly cost-effective, ensuring that every donor dollar reaches as many people as possible.

The project targets 7 refugee camps in Chad, 93 communities in Nigeria, and 50 communities in Somalia, serving approximately 358,000 people in Chad, 1.14 million in Nigeria, and 252,000 in Somalia.

Over time, the model could be scaled to reach more than 5 million additional people through expanded installation and integration into national water systems.

“The climate crisis is a water crisis, and the stakes are highest in fragile and conflict-affected settings,” the IRC noted.

“This pilot demonstrates how consistent chlorination can serve as a cornerstone of cost-effective, climate-resilient WASH  protecting the health and resilience of those most in need.”