WaterAid India

WaterAid India
Water, sanitation, and women: A journey of empowerment in rural India
The evolution of women's roles in India's WASH sector
Posted on 20 Mar, 2024 12:01 PM

In the heart of rural India, the fight for access to clean water and adequate sanitation frequently determines daily routines. These basic necessities have always been the responsibility of women, who walk great distances to obtain water and manage home cleanliness with limited funds. But today, their role is undergoing a remarkable transformation.

A Baiga woman reacts as she collects water from a standpost installed outside her house in Pondi village in Dindori, Madhya Pradesh (Image: WaterAid India)
Building community expertise in planning, designing, and overseeing WASH systems
A holistic approach to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiatives Posted on 20 Oct, 2023 04:10 PM

WaterAid India is a non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming lives by improving access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. The organisation focuses on marginalised and vulnerable communities, striving to ensure that everyone, everywhere, has access to these essential services.

Shantilata uses a cloth to filter out the high iron content in the salty water, filled from a hand pump, in the village Sitapur on the outskirts of Bhadrak, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha (Image: WaterAid/ Anindito Mukherjee)
Saamuhika Shakti: Empowering Bangalore waste pickers to live dignified lives
A collective impact effort, the first of its type in India that provides informal waste pickers a chance to live safe and dignified lives, with particular emphasis on gender and equity.
Posted on 12 Jul, 2023 08:31 AM

According to the World Bank (2020), 49% of the urban population in India, resides in slums. The urban slum dweller’s desire for a better life has only been partially fulfilled, as people continue to fight for necessities such as clean drinking water and adequate toilets.

Waste pickers and sorters working hard to extract recyclable value from the waste we throw out (Image: Vinod Sebastian/ Saamuhika Shakti)
Providing access to safe drinking water to transform 10,000 lives in several Indian states
Halma and WaterAid's focus was on sustainability of existing water sources Posted on 13 Mar, 2023 08:57 PM

More than 10,000 people in Bhagalpur and Buxar districts of Bihar have been given access to life-saving clean, drinking water through Halma plc’s Water for Life campaign in partnership with WaterAid.

Rubi, Buxar district’s field coordinator for WaterAid India, performs water testing to examine the quality of drinking water in the village of Bicchu Ka Dera, Buxar, India. 25 May 2022. (Image: WaterAid/ Anindito Mukherjee)
Mobilising communities for WASH
WaterAid India’s partnership with USAID and Gap Inc. benefits 2400 villages across 7 districts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra
Posted on 13 Dec, 2022 05:25 PM

Convened to mark the successful conclusion of the Women+Water Alliance project in select districts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, U.S.

WaterAid has focused on establishing community-led water quality monitoring & surveillance (Image: Anil Gulati/India Water Portal Flickr)
Climate change threatens water access for world’s poorest communities
Clean water plays a critical role in helping communities cope with climate change.
Posted on 20 Mar, 2021 02:14 PM

The impact of climate change on people’s water supplies is threatening to put progress on bringing clean water to all back decades unless urgent action is taken to help the world’s poorest communities adjust to changing weather patterns. 

 Unless communities have access to a reliable and safe source of water, their health will suffer. (Image: WaterAid)
Rapid hygiene study: Hand hygiene for COVID-19 and beyond in India
A study by WaterAid India calls for building the capacity of community networks to promote and support hygiene behaviours.
Posted on 15 Oct, 2020 09:33 AM

This year, Global Handwashing Day (observed annually on October 15) is particularly significant given the COVID-19 pandemic. While vaccine trials are ongoing, protective actions such as handwashing with soap is a critical first line of defence and cost-effective public health intervention.

Effect of a behaviour-change intervention on handwashing (Image: Climate Centre)
Water, the first line of defence against climate change
A report by WaterAid calls for a tenfold increase in current levels of climate finance that goes to WASH services.
Posted on 22 Mar, 2020 09:50 AM

Water insufficiency is a challenging problem globally with 1 in 10 people lacking a basic water pump or covered well close to home.

Shantilata uses a cloth to filter out the high iron content in the salty water, filled from a hand pump, in the village Sitapur on the outskirts of Bhadrak, Bhuvaneshwar, Odisha (Image: WaterAid/ Anindito Mukherjee)
Women lead the way in water quality surveillance
Why women need to be trained and engaged in monitoring and surveillance of water quality at the community level in rural India? Posted on 06 Mar, 2020 01:45 PM

Historically, water is a gendered burden, with women being the primary caregivers responsible for cooking, washing and cleaning chores in the house and in modern times in institutions (teachers, anganwadi and healthcare workers). Women have traditionally been associated with various water related tasks - be it collecting, fetching, or purifying water.

Organised under WaterAid India’s partnership with GAP, water testing workshop (2019) held in Indore district aimed at training women and youth to lead the entire process of community water management – from planning to supply, operations and maintenance and to educate communities on water-quality issues. (Image: WaterAid India/Ashima Narain)
Water and sanitation sector needs a budget push
Better regulation and transparency is needed in the WASH sector to ensure that India meets its Swachh Bharat Mission targets, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals.
Posted on 30 Jan, 2016 12:56 PM

While the WatSan sector has been prioritised in the country’s policy agenda through the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission, last year’s budgetary outlay was way below desired levels.

Handwashing at a Karnataka school
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