Project profile

Lack of clean, safe water and sanitation facilities in schools is one of the proven obstacles for girls to access schools. When girls reach puberty, the majority at lower secondary level, provision of water and sanitation become crucial. One of the constraints to women’s development and girls’ education is the amount of work they do in managing the household.  Water has always been a serious difficulty, and sanitation a growing one.  Women walk long disances along steep, sometimes slippery paths to bathe and fetch water.  Indigenous attitudes to cleanliness mean that the process of collecting water is often laborious and time consuming.  Sanitation, which used to be straightforward in the shelter of the forest, is becoming logistically difficult as trees are cleared and population increases.

 

Objective

To achieve increased gender equity, through better health and quality of life for ethnic minority women and girls with elevated education and livelihood options and improved water access, hygiene and sanitation practices in schools and communities leading to better life outcomes for all.

 

Key activities

 

Project activities include:

• Constructing community ponds and wells.

• Constructing water harvesting system for communities and lower
  secondary schools.

• Constructing and renovating school toilets and bathrooms for
  boarding students.

• Constructing solar and electronic wells for primary schools.

• Providing water jars and filters to poor families.

• Constructing hand-washing stations at lower secondary schools.

• Constructing demo-toilets and toilets for people with disabilities.

• Building capacity of Water User Committees (WUC).

• Providing hygiene training to teachers, students and community
  people.