World Water Day 2019
Aga Khan Agency for Habitat
In the high mountain regions of Pakistan, wrapped around the Karakoram, Hindu Kush and Himalaya ranges, to get clean water and avoid water-borne diseases, most families rely on the women and young children – the water haulers of the household – to walk long distances, negotiating rocky slopes and snow-laden paths, to collect water from glacial melt streams and lakes.
AKAH Pakistan
22 March 2019 - Access to clean and safe water is a basic human right. While some of us are lucky to have year-round access to safe drinking water, many communities living in the remote mountainous regions of northern Pakistan do not have this luxury. These communities are dependent on unsafe water sources, which puts them at risk of water-borne diseases and limits their opportunities for prosperity and well-being. To address this issue, the Aga Khan Agency for Habitat in Pakistan has helped provide safe drinking water – meeting the World Health Organization standards – to around 500,000 people living in these communities over the last two decades.