We rarely give the toilet a second thought. We use it when we need to, and we flush and forget. We are also able to conveniently wash our hands afterwards. But imagine if you are on a long hiking…

I will never forget October 8, 2005, a day that changed my life forever as it did for hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis.   I remember my house shaking violently like never before and my…

Why Sanitation Access Doesn’t Work Unless the Entire Village Buys In Jitender is a four-year old boy with forward-thinking parents. Although it’s common in his village, in the Indian state of…

Poverty has been a concern in societies even before the beginning of recorded history. In the past three decades extreme poverty in the world has decreased significantly. More than half of…

Success Story from Nawalparasi District of Nepal Increasing indulgence of school staff in party politics, lack of transparency in managing school budgets and a lack of accountability of teachers…

Within the next 30 years, urban populations in developing countries will double and UN-Habitat estimates that around 3 billion people will need housing and basic infrastructure. Already, 70% of…

During the South Asia Region workshop on "Promoting Access to Land and Housing", one underlying thread that ran through the discussions was on effective urban planning. Often, we…

 “Young people ought not to be idle, ” quipped Margaret Thatcher, “It is very bad for them.” That was twenty years ago. With over a million youth currently out of work in Britain today – 21% of…

Violence against women is a pervasive problem worldwide, causing the deaths of more women between the ages of 19 and 44 than wars, cancer, or car accidents. In South Asia, gender violence is…

Many regions and countries face urbanization challenges, South Asia is no exception. Although the region is currently the least urbanized region in the world, its urbanization rate is on par with…