Kyrgyzstan
WASH coalition building
Through the organisation of joint activities and meetings at national and local levels, a foundation is being laid for a WASH coalition bringing together public sector institutions with NGOs and CBOs and other interested parties such as media. Coalitions are also being built at the local level.
Focus
In Kyrgyzstan, WASH activities have focused mainly on schools and the media. The main objective of the Kyrgyz ‘WASH in Schools’ campaign is to attract government, ministries, civil society and communities to water and sanitation issues in schools, and to involve them in WASH education and hygiene behavior change.
Activities, milestones and achievements
Activities have included the regular publication of WASH materials in a national school newspaper, ‘Ai-Danek’, an essay and drawing competition among pupils via the same newspaper, the preparation of a hygiene curriculum and teachers’ manual for primary schools, and a national competition among journalists for the best WASH-related article.
In addition to this, a growing number of activities is being organised yearly around World Water Day and WASH Week.
Many activities focus on the rural areas, where the rural populations have been very open and interested to learn more about health, hygiene and sanitation. In one village, the community members have developed '7 rules for hygiene and sanitation behaviour', and have disseminated them to surrounding villages as well.
