India’s vast population is growing, particularly in urban areas, where people are living in slums. In many places, faeces and water supplies are not separated and facilities are often expensive or even illegal.

In rural areas, new facilities fall into disrepair where there are no resources for maintenance. Often cultural beliefs prevent people from using latrines or practising good hygiene.

We believe that local government and service providers should be held accountable to the communities they serve. Working with local organisations, we empower communities to recognise and fight for their human rights to water and sanitation.

Many people are excluded from using existing services due to disability, gender, illness or caste. We prioritise these individuals and advocate for their rights to clean water and safe sanitation.

We work with partner organisations across India, training communities to raise awareness of their human rights, to repair and maintain their own water and sanitation facilities and to lobby decision-makers to improve their situation.

In India last year we reached:

• In 2011/12 we reached 536,000 people with water and 353,000 people with sanitation in India.
• We have developed training manuals that the Government and other major service providers have used throughout the country.
• A WaterAid project in Kalmandhai, Tiruchirapalli city was declared India’s first 100% sanitised slum in 2002.