What is Everyone Forever?

Everyone Forever means water and sanitation that lasts for generations to come – for every family, clinic, and school.

Most WASH initiatives are implemented with short-term goals like installing a pump or toilet. But this model seldom works since there is no planning for a lasting impact. When pumps and toilets break, their continued operation and maintenance become a burden on the community. Breakdowns can last between 10-15 days, forcing many families to again resort to unsafe water sources. In some cases, such regular disrepair has caused the community to abandon these water points permanently. Lack of skilled local mechanics, high cost of repairs, and difficulty obtaining spare parts results in prolonged downtime This often leaves communities back where they started, and with little faith in a long-term solution.

In 2011, Water For People created the Everyone Forever model. The goal is self-explanatory – Everyone has water that lasts Forever.

Everyone Forever lies at the centre of our core mission and values – that everyone deserves access to safe and sustainable water and sanitation services, forever

Reaching Everyone within a district means every single person – even the hardest to reach – has access to reliable water and improved sanitation services. While the Forever aspect of the model ensures that these water and sanitation services are sustainable. The implementation of Everyone Forever is multi-faceted. It constitutes Community Empowerment, Government Collaborations and Private-sector Engagement that ensures services are well-managed and the impacted communities are self-reliant.

Everyone Forever is reached when:

At least 95% of households and facilities (Anganwadi Centres, Schools, Health Centres) receive sustainable and locally managed water and sanitation service.

Local organizations and government – at block and district levels – lead the effort to achieve consistent results

External agencies are no longer needed to provided services

Forging a Lasting Relationship With Water

Our Everyone Forever model ensures that an initiative continues to provide safe water to a community, long after its implementation. The model demonstrates a strong commitment to sustainability through consistent monitoring and performance tracking.

It focuses on protecting water supplies, training mechanics, and establishing supply chains for spare parts. Our work is not finished until we’re confident water will flow long after we leave a district. This dedication ensures that communities enjoy increased access to clean water and sanitation while cultivating a strong community value for these services.

The Four Key Pillars of Everyone Forever

To achieve Everyone Forever, four forces must work together to create systems change – community, government, market and technical. We help build capacity within each of these forces to promote long lasting water and sanitation services.

Co-Investing (Ownership)

Individuals, communities, government, and businesses provide support, labour, skills, and investments. They own the system we help build and are responsible for its ongoing operation and maintenance.

capacityCapacity Building (Sustainability)

Capacity building of individuals, communities, and government is key to the smooth operation of the systems long after its creation.

monitoringMonitoring and Reporting (Accountability)

Our sustainability checklist measures a community’s progress towards Forever. We remain engaged until a community’s water service is sustainable and regularly monitored by the local service authority.

replicatingReplicating (Scalability)

Replication of our initiatives at the district and state-level accelerates progress and helps influence national-level policy to scale our impact.

Measuring Everyone Forever

Water For People India measures Everyone Forever efforts on an annual basis. It entails guaranteeing reliable water service to every community, school, clinic, and ultimately every family in a district – EVERYONE

The next step is monitoring and aiding local partners to ensure the water service is sustained for generations. We monitor every aspect essential for sustainability – financing for repairs, preserving water resources, and making people responsible for maintaining water services. Once a district checks off every aspect, the sustainability of water services is assured – FOREVER.

We exit a district only after it reaches both Everyone and Forever milestones. By then, we are certain the district can function without any external aid and provide water to every family, clinic, and school for generations to come.

Measuring
scaling

Scaling Everyone Forever

We recognize that no one can solve India’s water crisis alone but believe the best solution to mitigate the crisis is to replicate proven models and approaches on a national scale. And we know the Everyone Forever approach built around community ownership, long-term investment, and sustainability has already delivered great results. Through greater replication and partnerships, more people will have access to sustainable water – faster.

That’s why a big part of what we do is scaling the Everyone Forever model – to spread our impact beyond the districts where we work to reach millions of more people across India.

Eventually, getting all the key actors – NGOs, governments, the private sector, and communities – to work together seamlessly, will be decisive in achieving universal access to clean water.

The Road to Everyone Forever

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