Access to Clean Water Transforms Lives

.2025 WASH portfolio and impact:

Access to Life-Saving, Clean Water for Vulnerable and Crisis-Affected Communities

Through our Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programs our mission is to implement  sustainable WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) initiatives that empower communities to become self-sufficient. By expanding reliable access to safe, clean water through community water wells, largescale water stations and emergency water distribution, HCI strengthens progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6 of universal, affordable, and sustainably managed safe, clean water access.

In 2025, HCI implemented WASH interventions across 6 countries - Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and the Gaza Strip reaching roughly 467,000 people with access to safe, clean water. We achieved a significant increase from the 100,000 people served in 2024, through increased responsiveness to the lifesaving need for safe, clean water in developing countries and in crisis and emergency contexts.  

Program Highlights 

• Amidst the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza, we distributed approximately 5 million litres of safe, clean water through 2 large-scale water trucking interventions, reaching  internally displaced families living in camps across the Gaza Strip. In the  first emergency water distribution intervention, we reached approximately 36,000 families, and an estimated 180,000 to 216,000 individuals. In the second emergency water distribution intervention we reached approximately 36,871 households and an estimated 184,355 individuals (assuming 5-6 people per household for W75 & W84).

•  In Gaza’s Al-Maghazi Governorate, we partnered with the Al-Maghazi Municipality to repair and rehabilitate the main water desalination plant. The fully rehabilitated and operational desalination plant is now providing safe drinking water to more than 35,000 residents and displaced people in Al-Maghazi Camp and the surrounding areas, leading to improved public health and reducing the risks of waterborne diseases.

In AlQanawis District of AlHudaydah, Yemen, HCI installed a 130meterdeep, solarpowered water well and water station, ensuring  safe, clean water for 34,000 people. The water-station, powered by renewable energy, includes two water points each equipped with a 4,000liter water tank and a  control room ensuring realtime monitoring and maintenance. Due to escalating security constraints in AlHudaydah, we faced challenges to implement hygieneawareness activities in the community. In response to these challenges the project’s hygiene-awareness activities (personal hygiene, cholera prevention, measles awareness and the importance of immunization) were implemented in  Marib Governorate, reaching 5,500 vulnerable children and families in schools and IDP camps.  This strategic change was also responsive to the urgent humanitarian needs in Marib, which have been exacerbated by ongoing displacement and  seasonal flooding.

Yemen Water Station LINK for :    Images and Promo Videos

• In Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Kenya and Somalia, HCI constructed 274 water wells in communities, expanding access to safe, clean, reliable drinking water for vulnerable households. In addition, donations received in late 2025 will support the construction of a further 65 wells in Bangladesh and Pakistan in early 2026. 

• Wells constructed with generous funding from our donors will reduce reliance on unsafe water sources, decrease risks  to waterborne diseases, and improve overall community health. Improved  safe, clean water access also reduces the burden on women and girls, decreasing time spent collecting water and enhancing safety, dignity, and opportunities for education and livelihoods. 

One of HCI’s water well projects implemented in Pakistan focused on constructing 50 solar-powered wells in schools, transforming the lives of children by ensuring daily access to safe drinking water and a healthier learning environment. A feature story from one of the participating schools appears below.

Community Water Wells: People Served by Country

Bangladesh

  5000

India

4774

Pakistan

24720

Kenya

    8400

Somalia

6710

Total 

49604 

Success Story:

Access to Safe Drinking Water Transforms School Life at  Kodai No. 1, Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Kodai No. 1 is a government public school located in the Shabqadar Thesil,  Charsadda district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.  Kodai No 1 serves 893 students (485 boys and 408 girls), including 40 orphans. The school is staffed by 9 male teachers. The surrounding community largely comprises poor households that rely on daily wage labour.

The school has long faced critical challenges in securing safe and reliable drinking water. It relied on a shallow 25-foot hand pump that was seasonal  but often dried up during the hot summer months. Water quality tests revealed pathogen contamination, creating serious health risks for students and staff compounding the challenges with access to safe, clean water.  As a result, students frequently had to carry water from home, and the limited supply left the school without sufficient water for sanitation and basic hygiene needs.

In response, Human Concern International (HCI) funded the installation of a solar-powered borewell based on a  comprehensive needs assessment. The well was drilled to a depth of 120 feet to provide reliable access to safe, clean groundwater.

A water pump connected to a solar panel and a storage tank were also installed, ensuring continuous access to safe, clean water during school hours without dependence on electricity.

This intervention now directly benefits 902 individuals daily, providing safe, clean drinking water, improving sanitation, and ensuring a reliable water supply for all school activities. Beyond providing immediate access to safe, clean drinking water, the project has enhanced overall health, boosted attendance, and empowered children and the surrounding community by promoting the proper and efficient use of water.

Note: This success story  is accompanied by a promo video. Images of the water well from this video can be used for this story.Promo video LINK