Beginning India
Women for water gain
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Pure Water
School Water Information

Beginnings in India

Water For People initiated its India operations in West Bengal in 1996, with a program on arsenic mitigation in the district of North 24 Parganas and Nadia. Based on the lessons learned from the project, Water For People India expanded its initiatives from arsenic mitigation to integrated water and sanitation activities in schools and across disenfranchised communities.

By 2007, Water For People India had adopted a comprehensive strategy to develop and implement sustainable water and sanitation solutions in both West Bengal and Bihar. Since its founding, Water For People India had emerged as a pioneer in delivering programs that cater to the needs of communities, schools, and health care centres in the area of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), continuing to expand its scope and geography.

Today, Water For People India is recognized widely for its integrated approach to designing sustainable water and sanitation infrastructure and services. Our initiatives to expand and strengthen WASH systems have now been implemented in 28 districts in West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, and Odisha. In all, nearly 1.2 million people have been reached through community drinking water and sanitation projects, WASH in public institutions, and market-led approaches to sanitation.

Water For People India Trust (hereafter referred to as Water For People India) was established in 2008 in alignment with the global vision and mission to provide improved access to water and sanitation in rural areas and urban slums. Water For People India is a direct-implementation agency supported by civil societies, local NGO partners, and entrepreneurs.

Our Credo

Water For People India was created to actualize the vision – Every household, community, and public institution (health centres and schools) should have access to safe water and reliable sanitation for generations to come – sustained by strong communities, businesses, and governments. We call this impact model Everyone Forever (EF).

Achieving Everyone Forever is possible only when the most vulnerable are empowered. To that end, we design and implement ground-level solutions that help the marginalized communities – rural areas and urban slums – access their share of water resources and directly contribute to their improved health and overall well-being.

Throughout its decade-long existence, Water For People India has been devoted solely to achieving water sufficiency for our billion-plus countrymen. More than a million lives have been changed through these solutions, yet. And we have only just begun!

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