Arsenic mitigation, sanitation and hygiene promotion in schools

forwater — Fri, 06 Jan 2023 10:29:44 +0000

Arsenic mitigation, sanitation and hygiene promotion in schools forwater Fri, 01/06/2023 - 15:59

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Presence of Arsenic above permissible limits in groundwater and lack of sanitation infrastructure in schools took a toll on the health of school children in the 24 North Paraganas district. This project helped improve the water and sanitation in 12 schools in this district. Access to safe drinking water was given to 14,000 students due to the project interventions. Provisions were made to provide well designed sanitation facilities for adolescent girls and women teachers, while significant focus was given to improving menstrual hygiene. These interventions helped reduce student dropout rates and increase attendance, especially among girls.

At the end of the project, there was a prioritization of issues by school committees, who also committed funds for the programme’s operation and maintenance

Outputs

Knowledge-Attitude-Behaviour-Practice studies conducted in all 12 schools to gauge the awareness and behaviour of the students. Based on the study, a participatory planning exercise for designing customized interventions was formulated.
A School Water and Sanitation committee (Watsan) and a revolving school fund developed to help build ownership and provide effective maintenance and management of the assets.
Water quality testing to check Arsenic levels.
To ensure safe drinking water, AMAL filters for Arsenic removal were installed in six schools where Arsenic levels were above permissible limits. In addition, drinking water stations constructed in all 12 schools.
Sanitation blocks were constructed in all 12 schools and toilets redesigned with focus on menstrual hygiene management.
Anwesha clinics were linked to all schools. Anwesha is a flagship programme of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India that addresses the health issues of adolescent girls, specifically related to menstrual hygiene.

Focus Area

Water Quality

State

West Bengal

Implementing Partner

Water for People

Outreach

14000

Duration

Thu, 01/01/2009 - 12:00 - Sat, 01/01/2011 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/arsenic-mitigation-sanitation-and-hygiene-promotion-schools

Leveraging digital to build capacities across multiple programs in West Bengal

forwater — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 10:09:29 +0000

Leveraging digital to build capacities across multiple programs in West Bengal forwater Thu, 12/15/2022 - 15:39

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Arghyam partnered with PRASARI for their scaled interventions for building capacities of frontline workers across three different projects in West Bengal.

The engagement covered three programs - springshed management, watershed management and well rejuvenation. The issue in most of the target areas was reducing groundwater levels, reducing spring discharge, poor maintenance of dug-wells and other traditional water structures leading to poor access to water and water scarcity.

Jharnadhara Springshed Management program

Jharnadhara was a pioneering Springshed program designed at scale which covered 616 springs across 4 districts. It was a collaboration of BRLF and Arghyam to support the soft components of the program while the implementation money is leveraged from MG-NREGA, Department of Rural Development, Government of West Bengal.

The new engagement targeted all 30 springs of Gorubathan block of Darjeeling district with the reimagined capacity building model.

Usharmukti Watershed Management program

Usharmukti was the first mega watershed project supported by BRLF and implemented by CSO partners. The project covered 55 blocks across 6 districts. It was a collaboration of BRLF and a few other funders like Ford Foundation, Wabag Foundation, to support the soft components of the program while the implementation money was leveraged from MG-NREGA, Department of Rural Development, Government of West Bengal.

30 micro watersheds of Rajnagar block (intensive block) and watersheds of non-intensive block, of Birbhum district piloted the digital capacity building model.

Well Rejuvenation program

This program was about piloting a well rejuvenation protocol on 80-100 water structures across two districts of West Bengal. Funded by Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI), this project sought to leverage MGNREGA funds.

This new engagement covered five intensive gram panchayats of the project in Matiali & Nagrakata blocks in the Jalpaiguri district.

The reimagined capacity building efforts touched approximately 18000 households. As the scale of operations increased, BRLF collaborated with Arghyam to deploy the capacity building solutions in order to improve the efficacy of their efforts across different phases of the project lifecycle.

Focus Area

Participatory Groundwater Management

State

West Bengal

Implementing Partner

Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation

Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives

Duration

Mon, 01/01/2018 - 12:00 - Fri, 01/01/2021 - 12:00

Path Alias

/our-works/leveraging-digital-build-capacities-across-multiple-programs-west-bengal