Regional
stories
Securing water and sanitation in remote communities
The first community to benefit was the Pema Chopheling Monastery, which is home to 53 nuns and a number of orphan children. Water storage infrastructure was built and internal pipework supplying water for drinking, cooking, and bathing was renovated. The work was outsourced to a local contractor, who also contributed his own resources to the project.
In the second community, 10 households in Chupjakha Village were fitted with rainwater harvesting infrastructure to help counter the severe year-round water shortages that challenged the village, despite it receiving adequate rainfall during the monsoon season. A multistakeholder approach was employed, utilising technical expertise available in the local district, while the community itself supplied the labour for installation, and the local women’s group coordinated the project.
Both communities were also trained on water resources management, management of their new infrastructure, and on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).
Wheeling the way to safe water
Collecting water is regarded as “women’s work” in rural Pakistan and often means women and girls have little time for schooling, family life, or income-generating activities. To facilitate access to adequate volumes of safe water and improve the lives of women, almost 400 Help to Others (H2O) Wheels were distributed to communities in the Cholistan and Tharparkar Deserts by GWP Pakistan in 2022.
Following comprehensive needs assessments in two villages, the NGO Tayaba Welfare International Association (TWIA) partnered with GWP Pakistan to provide the H2O Wheels. These robust, UV-stabilised polythene drums hold 40 litres of water and have a handle that allows them to be rolled easily along the ground. Containing much more water than a woman can carry in a pot, the H2O Wheels ease the burden on women, free up their time for other activities, and mean extra water is available for hygiene needs as well as for irrigating home gardens, providing extra nutrition for households and potentially offering an extra income source. The wheels also represent a gender-neutral method of carrying water, which may engage men and boys in fetching water, further relieving the burden on women.
TWIA also provided GWP Pakistan with a grant to purchase two submersible solar water pump systems for installation in Tharparkar. The successful completion of the pilot in 2022 strengthened the partnership, resulting in the decision to continue the project in 2023.
Empowering youth to find water solutions for the future
The GWP South Asia Water Academy for Youth (WAY) invited eligible youth (aged 18 to 35 years) in South Asia to participate in an online training programme on ‘Riverscapes and riverine ecosystems’ held between September and November 2022. The training offered a collaborative and immersive learning experience based on systems thinking and design thinking, with the aim of tapping into the potential of youth and empowering them to find water solutions for the future.
To gain skills such as critical thinking and the tools to effectively assess and tackle a problem, participants learned about leadership; locally centred learning and capacity building; and scenario planning and problem solving. They were paired with mentors, receiving feedback on projects, solution identification, and solution finding. Mentors also offered career guidance and networking opportunities. Participants connected with water decision-makers, practitioners, and senior leaders and discussed action on implementing SDG 6 in riverscapes and riverine ecosystems in South Asia. Peer-to-peer learning with other youth in the region and across Asia more widely was also facilitated.
Following their training, the participants joined a network of WAY alumni, which acts as pool of knowledgeable youth and GWP ambassadors.
