ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) -- Something as simple as clean water could save the lives of hundreds of thousands of third-world children every year.

The UN children's agency says lack of safe water is a factor in the severe diarrhea that's killing more than 250-thousand children a year in Ethiopia.

A UNICEF water and sanitation expert said there needs to be a major change in the handling of sanitation, hygiene and the water supply.

Diarrhea accounts for about 20 percent of all deaths of Ethiopian children under age five.

A key to solving the problem is toilets. Fewer than 70 percent of Ethiopia's 70 (m) million people have access to toilets. Many don't know how to use them.

On top of that is the country's basic poverty. More than 80 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day.