Water

Village-wide sanitation programs can have widespread positive effects and particularly help children. Photo: Stephen Leonardi

Sanitation for Generations: It Takes a Village (To Raise a Child‘s Height)

A study in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic indicates that low-cost, village-wide efforts to improve sanitation have powerful benefits that cascade across income and age groups.

Milan Thomas

People living in informal settlements, often near the edges of large cities, are among the most in need of access to clean, safe water and toilets. Photo: ADB

Many People Take Toilets for Granted. More Than a Billion in Asia Don’t Have that Luxury

Investments in safe, adequate and affordable water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities must be sustained and result in improved services and a less polluted environment for everyone, particularly the poorest and most vulnerable in Asia and the Pacific.

Christian Walder, Lu Shen, Isabel Blackett

In Tonga, access to water has a major impact on the lives of women and girls. Photo: ADB

Pathway to Empowerment: Women’s Decision-Making and Access to Water in the Pacific

By meeting women’s practical and strategic needs, including greater access to water and more influence in decision-making, society overall is improved and made more equitable.

Ritu Verma

Urban and rural areas both have a major impact on the health and cleanliness of rivers in Asia. Photo: Joseph Chan

The Health of Asia’s Rivers Lies Both in the Cities and on the Farms

Solutions that include both urban and rural environments, and the connections between the two, are needed to improve river health in Asia and the Pacific.

Rabindra P. Osti

Hand washing and other basic hygiene can be challenging on Pacific island where water is scare. Photo: Nathan Dumlao

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Key to Pacific’s Ongoing COVID Strategy

Pacific island nations have been among the top performers worldwide in controlling COVID-19. A greater emphasis on water, sanitation and hygiene practices will help continue that success.

Jingmin Huang

Tracking COVID-19 in sewage could be an effective way to monitor the spread of the virus in densely populated urban areas. Photo: Thijs Degenkamp

A Novel Approach to Tracking COVID-19

Testing sewage for the coronavirus could provide vital clues to its spread in areas where mass testing is difficult.

Christian Walder, Neeta Pokhrel

Clean water is not always available in the home in Papua New Guinea and other countries in Asia and the Pacific. Photo: ADB

In Papua New Guinea, Hand Washing Can Be a Challenge in Some Communities

A lack of safe water supply in urban settlements around Asia and the Pacific complicates efforts to use improved hygiene to fight COVID-19

Edkarl Galing, Alexandra Conroy

Rural water systems face many unfair biases and assumptions. Photo: ADB

For Rural Water Systems, Small and Simple is a "Pipe Dream"

The idea that rural water schemes are only sustainable if small, simple and locally managed is a bias that must be overcome to get more clean water to the people who need it.

Neeta Pokhrel