Water, Sanitation & Hygiene – WASH

WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene)

 Introduction

The provision of safe water, sanitation and hygienic conditions is essential to protecting human health during all infectious disease outbreaks, including the COVID-19 outbreak. Ensuring good and consistently applied WASH and waste management practices in communities, homes, schools, marketplaces, prisons and health care facilities will further help to prevent human-to-human transmission of the diseases and viruses. Caritas Pakistan’s WASH program includes the interventions aimed at saving lives and reducing illness through access to safe water, adequate sanitation, and improved hygiene. The WASH program’s long-term prevention and control measures reduce the severe impact of diseases by improving health, reducing poverty, and increasing economic development.

Goal

To improve health status of unprivileged communities with the provision of safe drinking water, sanitation and improved hygiene practices integrated with COVID-19.

Objectives

• Promoting behavior change through interactive approaches of hygiene promotion at household level
• Provision of safe drinking water at household level
• Improving the personal health and hygiene status of deprived communities with the provision of improved sanitation facilities at household level

Major Activities

• Health & Hygiene sessions in schools and communities
• Formation of WASH Committees
• IEC Material development and distributions
• Training of Trainers on WASH & COVID-19
• Trainings and Capacity Building Opportunities for community volunteers and Project Staff
• Installation of water pumps at community level
• Installation of Hand washing points in schools and communities
• Construction of communal latrines
• Repair / Retrofitting of existing WASH structures at community level
• Awareness Raising Campaigns and events

Major Achievements

• Caritas Pakistan organized health and hygiene sessions among school children to promote personal and environmental hygiene practices through teeth brushing, handwashing, wearing clean cloths, daily bath and avoid littering.
• Caritas Pakistan formed WASH Committees to ensure community involvement and mobilization process at every step of WASH interventions in targeted villages. It also promotes volunteerism and ownership which leads towards sustainability of WASH Program.
• Distribution of IEC material during Door to Door Campaign.
• Caritas Pakistan organized several “Trainings of Trainers” under WASH thematic area to ensure the involvement of community volunteers, chain development and sustainability of the Program.
• Caritas Pakistan installed hand washing stations in different schools and churches to prevent the spread of germs and infectious diseases including diarrheal illnesses and respiratory infections.
• Provision of disinfectant solutions in different churches and schools to prevent people from disease and viruses.
• Caritas Pakistan installed communal hand pumps in remote villages to ensure the provision of safe, sufficient and affordable water at household level.
• Caritas Pakistan constructed communal toilets in remote villages to avoid open defecation and provide a healthy living environment for everyone and ensure the fundamental right to human dignity.
• To prevent and control the spread of COVID-19, caritas Pakistan installed disinfectant walkthrough gates at different churches and schools.
• Distribution of COVID-19 Safety Kits among schools.
• Caritas Pakistan organized community sessions to promote good hygiene practices at household and community level through water hygiene, food hygiene, personal hygiene, child hygiene, female hygiene, latrine usage and cleaning and environmental hygiene.
• Training and Capacity Building of WASH Project Team is an ongoing process under WASH Program.
• Installation of Water Filter Plant at Josephabad, Khushab to ensure access of clean drinking water at community level.
• Health & Hygiene session with remote communities in Sindh to promote good hygiene practices at household and community level.
• Caritas Pakistan distributed hygiene kits in remote and semi-urban areas to reduce the transmission of bacterial and viral infections including cholera and COVID-19.
• Anti-Dangue and Anti-Malaria Campaign under WASH Program.
• Repair work of water tank at koli haji Pura district Pasrur