Sustainable Development Goals - Clean water and sanitation

In Gujarat, India, Nagal Behen Cholas has recently constructed a toilet and washing area which she shares with her son, daughter-in-law and young grand-daughter. Nagal Behen and her family decided to construct a toilet for themselves after they learnt about the importance of safe sanitation in community meetings organised by the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKPBS).

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and Ivoire Coton supported water pump, Kantara, Côte d'Ivoire.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
A woman taking water home, Murghab, Tajikistan. Over the past four years, community-identified infrastructure including small bridges, local roads, village school and clinic rehabilitation and small village drinking water supply schemes, implemented primarily with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the European Commission (EC) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), have benefitted 108,000 people (17,000 in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast).

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Audesh Kumar is one of hundreds of masons being trained in toilet construction techniques under the AKDN Comprehensive Sanitation Initiative. Aimed at strengthening the sanitation supply-chain, training of masons benefits communities who lack toilets as well as masons who are getting more work and increased income.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Women come to take clean water in the village of Dawand, just outside Ishkashim, Afghanistan. The water pump provided by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has made water easily accessible to 54 houses in the village where previously, residents had to walk for kilometres to fetch it.

AKDN / Andrew Quilty
The projects of the Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP) in Pakistan, like this water filtration system in Gilgit-Baltistan, are being replicated with the support of governments, donors and partners.

AKDN
An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) supported water pump, Bartang Valley, Tajikistan.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Women collect water from a water pump in N'Dara village in northern Côte d'Ivoire. AKDN has built or rehabilitated 20 water pumps like these in Boundiali province ensuring that 25,000 people have access to potable water. Governance plays a crucial role in the AKDN's water pump scheme. A water management committee is established to manage each pump and land is cultivated to generate profits to pay for maintenance ensuring the sustainability of the pumps.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
One way AKDN is raising awareness about safe sanitation and key hygiene messages (as part of its Comprehensive Sanitation Initiative) is through village rallies. Here school children set off through their village to sing sanitation-focused songs. These reinforce their understanding and also spread the message to their community. Muzaffarpur district, Bihar, India.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Through the financial services provided by her community-based savings group, this local goat farmer in Mozambique was able to increase her household income and purchase a new water tank. The tank stores clean water over longer periods of time, allowing her family, as she reports, to have better health.

AKDN / Lucas Cuervo Moura
In this village in southern Gujarat, India, the Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKPBS) has called a meeting of women and girls. In the meeting their sanitation challenges are discussed and key messages regarding safe sanitation and hygiene are spread, including through handwashing demonstrations by the women and girls themselves.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In India, AKDN has supported the provision of clean water in numerous districts across the country.

AKDN / Sam Pickens
An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) supported new toilet, Bartang Valley, Tajikistan.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In April 2017, AKDN has been awarded the National Sanitation Award for our work in Bihar, India. This award, given by the India Sanitation Coalition and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry, recognised AKDN's innovative integrated 'block-level' sanitation model. This model is ensuring marginalised rural communities can better access water and sanitation as well as increasing knowledge of key hygiene and health messages.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
AKDN programmes have constructed latrines and potable water systems in 250 villages in Pakistan, benefitting over 200,000 people. According to the World Health Organization, the programme has reduced diarrhoea by 60% in households and by 25% in health clinics.

AKDN
An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) supported water pump, Bartang Valley, Tajikistan.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Children access clean water through a restored hand pump in Bihar, India. The wall paintings behind the pump also spread awareness about key hygiene messages.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Sustainable Development Goals - Clean water and sanitation

Since 1970, the Aga Khan Development Network has been a pioneer in water sanitation and hygiene programmes in much of the developing world to help improve the health and quality of life of poor, rural communities. Our work in India was recognised in 2015 when the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme was awarded the Times of India Social Impact Award, for its effort in ensuring access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation for more than 350,000 people in Bihar and Gujarat.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) and Ivoire Coton supported water pump, Kantara, Côte d'Ivoire.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Women come to take clean water in the village of Dawand, just outside Ishkashim, Afghanistan. The water pump provided by the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) has made water easily accessible to 54 houses in the village where previously, residents had to walk for kilometres to fetch it.

AKDN / Andrew Quilty

The projects of the Water and Sanitation Extension Programme (WASEP) in Pakistan, like this water filtration system in Gilgit-Baltistan, are being replicated with the support of governments, donors and partners.

AKDN

An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) supported water pump, Bartang Valley, Tajikistan.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

AKDN / Lucas Cuervo Moura

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

In India, AKDN has supported the provision of clean water in numerous districts across the country.

AKDN / Sam Pickens

An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) supported new toilet, Bartang Valley, Tajikistan.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

AKDN programmes have constructed latrines and potable water systems in 250 villages in Pakistan, benefitting over 200,000 people. According to the World Health Organization, the programme has reduced diarrhoea by 60% in households and by 25% in health clinics.

AKDN

An Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) supported water pump, Bartang Valley, Tajikistan.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

Children access clean water through a restored hand pump in Bihar, India. The wall paintings behind the pump also spread awareness about key hygiene messages.

AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer

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