Background

In 2024, 3.4 billion people—two in five—still lacked access to safely managed sanitation, including 354 million people practicing open defecation.^*1 The human cost is devastating—over 1,000 children under five die each day from diseases^*2 that are spread by unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene.^*3 Globally, about 1.7 billion people—one in five—do not have basic hygiene services at home. Among them, 611 million people still have no handwashing facility at all, and another 1 billion have only limited service, lacking soap and/or water, increasing the risk of rampant infectious diseases.^*1

The absence of safe toilets and handwashing facilities is a crisis that stifles opportunities for growth and development across entire regions. It also leaves people—women and girls, in particular—exposed to the danger of animal attacks and sexual assault when seeking private places to defecate. In schools, the lack of proper toilets and privacy also exacerbates the educational gender gap, as menstruating girls are often forced to miss classes.

According to a report published in 2020 by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),^*4 achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 6.2—“achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and ending open defecation” by 2030—will require a total annual investment of USD 105 billion in basic and safely managed sanitation^*5 between 2017 and 2030. In addition, eradicating open defecation requires an initial upfront cost of USD 1.5 billion annually, along with USD 3.9 billion annually for system maintenance and upgrades. However, the economic and social losses incurred by failing to implement these measures far outweigh these investment costs. Conversely, access to safe water and toilets, along with improved sanitation and hygiene practices among all people, could generate an economic recovery worth trillions of dollars for emerging markets over the next 20 years.^*6

LIXIL contributes to achieving these global goals by developing and offering affordable, widely accessible products and continuously collaborating with governments, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and various other stakeholders to tackle sanitation and hygiene challenges at scale.

*1 “Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2024: special focus on inequalities” by UNICEF and WHO's Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (Opens new window) >

*2 Diseases spread by unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, and inadequate hygiene include diarrhoeal disease, cholera, dysentery, shigellosis, typhoid, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis, acute respiratory infection (ARI), protein energy malnutrition, and soil-transmitted helminths.

*3 “Triple Threat 2023” by UNICEF (Opens new window) >

*4 “Global and Regional Costs of Achieving Universal Access to Sanitation to Meet SDG Target 6.2” (UNICEF) >

*5 Basic sanitation facilities refer to improved sanitation facilities (toilets) that are not shared with other households. Safely managed sanitation facilities refer to improved sanitation facilities (toilets) that are not shared with other households and are equipped with systems that either safely separate sewage from contact with others or transport it to a separate location for safe and hygienic treatment and disposal.

*6 “Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery” by WaterAid (Opens new window) PDF: 27.2MB ＞

Our Strategy

LIXIL is a leading company in water technology. To continue our unwavering commitment after achieving the target of improving the lives of 100 million people around the world by 2025 through improved sanitation and hygiene, we now aim to reach a further 100 million people, both directly and indirectly, by FYE2031.

We aim to catalyze sustainable development across business models and ecosystems in sustainable sanitation and hygiene markets, generating a transformative impact on local economies, public health, and overall quality of life.

Three-Phase Approach

1. Our Operations - Access for all
   Acting on our values, we provide all employees with access to safe sanitation and hygiene facilities across our production sites, distribution centers, and office locations.
2. Our Value Chain - Direct impact
   By leveraging LIXIL products and services and through targeted partnerships, we aim to directly reach more people with improved sanitation and hygiene solutions.
3. Expanding our Impact - Indirect impact
   We continue to expand our reach indirectly through efforts to strengthen the sanitation ecosystem—including influencing policy, conducting advocacy, facilitating skill development training and capacity-building programs, and developing local markets—which will be assessed in alignment with our partners’ and internationally recognized reporting standards.

Our SATO brand, along with the initiatives of LIXIL Public Partners (LPP), is one of the primary drivers for achieving our target.
Launched in 2013 with just a single product, SATO has since expanded to offer a wide range of affordable, innovative, and durable toilet and hygiene products. SATO products are solutions that are not only designed to meet the needs of rural and peri-urban consumers but also to influence and drive behavior change.

Through innovative sanitation and hygiene solutions, SATO is dedicated to empowering people everywhere so they can have a better life and enjoy a brighter future. SATO’s affordable solutions are complemented by LIXIL’s other value-added products, which not only support improvement in the quality of life over time but also create market demand for customers at different life stages who stand to benefit from the wider LIXIL portfolio of products and services.

SATO’s innovative sanitation and hygiene solutions are increasingly being used worldwide, earning wide praise. Beyond our direct initiatives, we are strategically developing ecosystems to indirectly improve sanitation and hygiene for broader communities, thereby extending the impact of our product solutions. SATO strives to create and grow local sanitation and hygiene markets, adopting a more engagement-focused approach. Working with our partners, we facilitate skilled labor development and capacity-building programs and provide opportunities for local masons and entrepreneurs to learn how to grow their business and their local economy under our Make-Sell-Use business model. We also pursue a variety of outreach methods for awareness campaigns and education initiatives on sanitation and hygiene as well as the impact it has on households and communities among people in rural and peri-urban areas with the most urgent needs. In addition, LIXIL works with diverse stakeholder groups to ensure as large and wide-reaching impact as possible in those communities. We take pride in our continuous global partnership with UNICEF and our alliance with the FINISH Mondial Foundation, which ensures financial access and mechanisms to facilitate sanitation and hygiene improvements. Additionally, our collaborations with various NGOs, local manufacturers, and retailers are invaluable. These partnerships, alongside policy reform and advocacy for national and local governments, bolster the reach of our SATO products and enable creating innovative partnership platforms and business models, paving the way for more integrated solutions. We are convinced that these collective efforts amplify the contribution and impact of the private sector in addressing sanitation, hygiene challenges, and the broader social issues they bring.

Moreover, beyond our current initiatives, LIXIL is also focusing on developing innovative toilet solutions and researching solutions for the future through various partnerships. By continuing to drive innovation through toilets, we are committed to improving sanitation and hygiene around the world.

Learn more about Innovative and Affordable Sanitation Solutions >
Learn more about Impact through Partnership >

Governance Structure

The Global Sanitation & Hygiene Council oversees the strategic approaches and initiatives, convening quarterly in principle, to assess progress and explore potential measures in line with our Impact Strategy. Progress updates on initiatives that fall under the strategic pillar of global sanitation and hygiene are reported to the Board of Executive Officers on a quarterly basis through the Impact Strategy Committee. Furthermore, these updates are presented to the Board of Directors biannually for thorough discussion and oversight.

Additionally, we host quarterly taskforce meetings where regional external affairs leaders convene to discuss public policy trends, social issues, and local initiatives. These meetings are a platform for sharing experiences and insights, ensuring our strategies remain timely and effective.

Governance Structure

As of April 2026

Targets and Progress

Through providing access to a range of innovative and affordable toilet and handwashing solutions, LIXIL has achieved its ambitious target of improving the lives of 100 million people around the world by 2025, reaching approximately 103 million people.* However, reaching 100 million is just the first step toward the future. To achieve a world where everyone, everywhere, has the chance to thrive, we have set a new target to deliver improved sanitation and hygiene for a further 100 million people by FYE2031. This next phase includes not only the ‘direct impact’ of our products and services but also ‘indirect impact’ through ecosystem building and partnerships.

Our offerings serve as a catalyst for profound change—elevating health, contributing to local job creation, and providing a sense of dignity, hope, and opportunity. We remain committed to amplifying our social impact and resolving global sanitation and hygiene issues for generations to come.

* For details, please refer to the “Global Sanitation & Hygiene: LIXIL’s Impact Methodology” (June 25, 2024) ; for the latest data, please see the LIXIL Sanitation and Hygiene Impact: FYE2026 Annual Report.

Addressing Global Sanitation and Hygiene Challenges: Improving Sanitation and Hygiene for 103 Million People Worldwide

LIXIL’s efforts to address global sanitation and hygiene challenges began in 2013 with the installation of toilets in a community in Bangladesh and later expanded to India and Kenya. These initiatives continued to grow through the launch of a shared-value partnership with UNICEF called “Make a Splash!” as well as the introduction of the “SATO Tap,” a handwashing station, during the pandemic.
Our featured video introduces Esther Kasina, a woman raised in a Kenyan village without access to toilets, who long suffered from illnesses caused by poor sanitation and hygiene. After discovering SATO products, she became actively involved in marketing, sales, and installation activities. These initiatives have improved the quality of life of local communities and brought significant changes to people’s lives.
Our SATO business operates not as a charity or donation-based activities, but as a sustainable social business that creates impacts by reducing diseases, expanding educational opportunities, protecting human dignity, and promoting economic independence. At the same time, improving sanitation and hygiene remains one of the world’s most urgent challenges. Looking beyond our current achievements, we are committed to accelerating our efforts with partners to improve sanitation and hygiene for a further 100 million people by FYE2031.