The Bayat Foundation considers providing potable water one of its primary focus areas in Afghanistan. By connecting people to reliable sources of clean water through wells, the foundation has helped improved health outcomes throughout the country. Still, many people lack access to drinkable water. In Kabul, the nation’s capital, only about 10 percent of residents have a connection to a drinking-water supply system, which is desperately in need of repair. Up to 40 percent of the drinking water in this system is lost through leaks. In rural areas, Afghans must rely on streams, rivers, wells, and tanks for drinking water.
After years of conflict, Afghanistan has finally had the opportunity to address the need for water infrastructure. However, much work still needs to be done in terms of resource protection and utility autonomy. Germany has been a strong partner to Afghanistan in its efforts to bring potable water to all its citizens. In collaboration with the Afghan Ministry of Urban Development Affairs and the National Environmental Protection Agency, the German program has helped Afghanistan create urban sanitation systems and develop drinking-water quality-management initiatives.
Over the course of two years, about 2,000 Afghans received training in project management to prepare them for expanding the water programs in the future. Germany supported municipal authorities in Herat, Mazar-e-Sharif, and Kunduz to create six new wastewater plants. To keep programs operating, the Afghan government introduced a water tariff in July 2012 that has generated income for water utilities in several provinces. In Kabul, use of paid-for water jumped from 37 to 54 percent.
The work of Germany, the Bayat Foundation, and Afghan agencies has made a significant difference in the lives of many people. Between 2007 and 2013, the number of households in Kabul with connections to water rose from 33,776 to 43,300. In other areas, the increase was even greater. In Kunduz, only 370 households had access to a water supply in 2007. By the end of 2013, this number had grown to 7,700, about 75 percent of the province’s population.