Community sanitation through democratic participation: Ammachi Labs

This sanitation initiative was launched by 'Ammachi Labs' in February 2017. It is a two-year, pan-India initiative jointly funded with the United Nations Democracy Fund. It aims to address the issues of inadequate community sanitation, women's health, and water management in rural India through improving democratic representation of women in local governance.

The project targets 21 villages in India, and aims to empower at least 5,000 women in rural Indian communities to champion sanitation and community development, eventually reaching their entire village, or 30,000 indirect beneficiaries. Participating women will receive continuous life skill training, will conduct sanitation campaigns, and will organize and mobilize efforts to implement key community actions to access government programmes such as the Swacch Bharat Mission, that specifically promotes sanitation.

This community mobilisation and training effort is designed to efficiently reach entire communities in a short amount of time. It will also provide strength and support to the women advocating and petitioning to their local governments to address social and environmental issues in their villages. It is in line with the Government of India's commitment to improving sanitation and rural development, as well as the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The project is active in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir and Tamil Nadu. 188 women have been trained in Toilet Building and 220 women have been trained in soap making and sanitation awareness. We have had 32,000 participants at a Pan-Level level. These women have built a total of 327 toilets.