In Gujarat, India, Jesabl Lakshma, the Panchayat leader of Deda village, stands at the top of the Water and Sanitation Management Organisation water tower. Since the community drinking water scheme was established, he says that people have suffered less from skin diseases, kidney stones and typhoid. AKDN's award-winning block-level sanitation model in India ensures marginalised rural communities better access to water and sanitation as well as increasing knowledge of key hygiene and health behaviours. Photo: AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer. Learn more.
AKDN has a long history in India, dating back to the establishment of the first Aga Khan school in Mundra, Gujarat, in 1905. Today, eight of AKDN’s 11 agencies are operational in the country, implementing a range of programmes, in diverse fields from water and sanitation to maternal health and family nutrition, sustainable agriculture to disaster risk reduction and response, cultural restoration to school improvement.
These initiatives include schools and educational centres, a 162-bed multi-specialty acute care ISO-certified hospital in Mumbai, a rural support programme that has benefited over 1.5 million people in over 2,500 villages across the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, and the restoration of a World Heritage site in the nation’s capital.
