While most people in the developed world take infrastructure (for example clean water, electricity and transport) for granted, it is a dreamed-of luxury in many parts of the world. Almost 1.4 billion people in developing countries do not have access to clean water. Some 3 billion live without basic sanitation or electricity. Infrastructure is not simply about the construction of large projects. It is about delivering basic services that people need for everyday life, such as upgrading slums and providing roads to connect the poorest urban areas. Infrastructure is also an important part of our efforts to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Delivering safe water has a direct effect on reducing child death rates. Providing communities with electricity prevents women and children from having to spend long hours fetching firewood for cooking and heating, and gives them more time for other activities. Children especially are able to devote more time to schoolwork. In Morocco, a road project we supported helped to increase the number of girls who enrolled in schools from 28 percent to 68 percent. Infrastructure also connects communities to the world around them. A rural electrification project in Ecuador is helping to improve living standards and broaden opportunities by linking poor communities to telecommunications, electricity, the internet and business services.