A WHO-UN joint report in 2015 found that as many as 8.4 million Filipinos don’t have access to clean drinking water. These people collect water from unsafe and untreated sources and as a result, many are highly susceptible to water-borne diseases. SOURCe is a partnership with DEG and Vestergaard that aims to prevent waterborne diseases posed by untreated water sources in vulnerable rural areas through the provision of modern technology, training, and capacity building.
It was first implemented in Nepal after the 2015 earthquake and is now being replicated to remote villages in the Philippines. The goal is to distribute over 2,000 free water filters and to create awareness on safe drinking water and proper hygiene practices. The project has the following key interventions: (1) multi-stakeholder engagement with local government units, local organizations, and other organizations; (2) training of Community Clean Water Advocates (Philippines) and establishment of customer care centers (Nepal); (3) community awareness sessions; (4) school awareness programs on WaSH; (5) installation and distribution of LifeStraw Water Filters.
The project is still running in the Philippines and similar to the experience in Nepal, expects to result in increased demand for clean drinking water and strong community support meeting this basic need.
Tourism and agro-based industries are important sectors in Nepal and Bhutan as they contribute significantly to their GDP, employment generation, and foreign exchange earnings. However, the rise in tourism has put extra pressure on developing additional infrastructure and has contributed directly to environmental degradation, waste generation, and environmental pollution.
The project SEID is designed to directly address several issues faced by both tourism and agro-based industries of Nepal and Bhutan, by emphasising on optimisation of energy and water usage; environmental protection through proper waste and chemical management and judicial use of resources. In addition to this, the project also provided support for the development and enhancement of a framework for sustainable tourism in the two countries. The ultimate aim of the project (in addition to the benefits of sustainability that they would get) was to help the target industries and regions maximise their economic profits, enhance their foreign exchange dealing potential, optimise their resource use and new job creation.
Key interventions from ASSIST included training of trainers on responsible consumption and production; delivering awareness campaigns on resource efficiency and technical assessment / consulting support to 200 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); showcasing appropriate technologies promoting sustainability and developing linkages with academic institutions, facilitating Focus Group Discussions and creating Green Clubs and execution of awareness campaigns such as inter-school competitions.
