KWP Initiatives

A number of initiatives and actions are already underway. Briefly, these are:

Partnering City Government by Providing Multi-Stakeholder Platform.

We strongly believe that the significant water challenges facing the city cannot be solely overcome by the government without the support of the civil society. One of the central components of KWP strategy is to provide a platform for debate and dialogue on this critical issue for the city of Karachi . In a short span of approximately two years of operations, KWP has already engaged the City District Government of Karachi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) the largest and sole utility responsible for water supply and sewerage management in Karachi and successfully formed and implemented an Area Water Partnership (AWP) in Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town (GIT), one of the eighteen administrative towns of Karachi.

KWP Partnership Model (PDF)

Gulshan-e-Iqbal Area Water Partnership (GIT AWP)

Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town Area Water Partnership (GIT AWP) was set up in July 2008, with a committee to spearhead the agreed action. A fully functioning office was provided to a Programme Officer from KWP, who was based in the Town and received full cooperation in establishing the programme of GIT AWP. The Town printed 500,000 water conservation guidelines for homes, schools and offices at the cost of Rs. 600,000 which reached over a million people with their water bills. Additional guidelines for mosques were developed and distributed. These guidelines have made the residents of the Town wake up and evaluate their behavior visa vie water, sanitation and sewerage and adopt more responsible actions to conserve water.                                                                     

BioSand Filter Programme

The BioSand Filter has been found effective for making household water safe for drinking.

KWP is promoting both training for production and installation of these filters in many localities of Karachi as part of a pilot programme to test its effectiveness and utility as a source of clean drinking water leading to reduction in water borne diseases. The Bio Sand Filter is easy to construct, install, maintain and is cost effective. It is now being widely used in many parts of the world. KWP has installed over 30 Bio Sand Filters as part of its pilot programme and plans to expand to over 20,000 by year 2009 with your aid and assistance thereby providing safe drinking water to 192,000 households or 1.3 million citizens.

Media Campaign for Advocacy and Public Awareness

An integral element of KWP programme is its emphasis on advocacy and public awareness through use of print media, film, TV and radio broadcast and Internet. KWP has already produced and released 3 Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and a 10 minute documentary on the water and sewerage problems facing the city.

KWP documentary, entitled ?Dialogues and Outcomes 2009? developed and distributed to partners. This documentary covers the introduction to Hisaar Foundation, GWP and KWP,interviews of Hisaar Foundation Board of Governors and Council Members, GIT Administrators, elected representatives, government officials, WWN members, teachers, Landhi Town Administrator citizens.

KWP School Programme

KWP?s modus operandi is based on changing behavior towards water issues, conservation and advocacy across all stakeholder groups, the partnership embarked upon a school programme of advocacy and awareness raising programme with regard to water conservation in private schools and public schools.

Since KWP believes that children are our best ambassadors, the programme targeted students and youth to bring about a fundamental attitudinal change and reach their family and peers, through them. Towards making children champions of water, one of the major objectives of school programme was to initiate advocacy and water conservation programmes in the schools of all 18 Towns of Karachi through the support and collaboration of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB), Town administrators, citizen groups and corporate entities of the city.

A comprehensive programme of presentations, training and information dissemination on water conservation in both public and private schools was conducted to highlight the importance of hygiene, cleanliness and conservation of water in numerous schools. 

Towards achieving this end, KWP selected Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town as a model Town, in order to address the lack of awareness on water issues and conservation among children in the public schools of area and then replicate the programme in the remaining 17 Towns of Karachi.

Ninety teachers and 3500 students in nineteen public schools and 85 teachers and 3000 students in six private schools were successfully oriented and trained in water conservation and hygiene education and water management.

KWP focused its efforts on improving the environment of public schools and providing the children with an environment that is safe, healthy and more child-friendly.  KWP?s efforts in the School Programme have ranged from advocacy in relation to hygiene education to practical interventions such as repairs and provision of drinking water and sanitation facilities. 

Women and water Networks (WWNs)

To strengthen the Women and Water Networks (platforms that bring together women from all sectors of society on united fora to ensure that their representation on water related issues and policies), several WWNs were launched and one revitalized; Karachi WWN, Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town (GIT) WWN, 13 GIT Union Council (UC) level WWNs, Landhi Town WWN, Jamshed Town WWN were launched and the Liyari WWN revitalized. An Executive Committee for each Town WWN has been constituted.