Water, sanitation and hygiene
Kyrgyzstan moving forward in making proper sanitation and hygiene a norm
The challenge
According to the 2023 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, around 4 per cent of the population lacks access to safe drinking water, relying instead on hazardous open water reservoirs. Access to basic drinking water services is a little better in urban settings compared to rural areas (100% vs 94%). The rate is highest in Bishkek city (100%) and the lowest in the Batken region (82%). The primary sources of drinking water in towns and villages include rivers, reservoirs, deep artesian wells, canals, and other facilities.
On average around 20 per cent of the households across Kyrgyzstan are connected to centralized sewerage systems.
These are mainly available in major urbanized areas like Bishkek, Osh, and Chuy oblast. Majority of the country’s population rely on onsite sanitation such as septic pits.
In some settlements, existing sewerage systems are in dire need of rehabilitation or reconstruction due to their exceeded service life and lack of capital investment.
In rural areas, very few residential and public buildings, such as schools and health-care facilities, are connected to sewage systems.
Shortage of sewage systems in rural areas leads to lack of toilets inside rural schools. Many public schools do not have hot water supply. Such factors pose serious public health risks and can lead to outbreaks of infectious diseases, particularly among children.
The water, sanitation, and hygiene situation in schools is concerning especially for adolescent girls. Most school toilets do not meet inclusive and gender-responsive criteria, lacking privacy and safety, which significantly affects adolescent girls who often avoid using school toilets. The typical placement of toilets outside the main building exacerbates the risk of sexual harassment for girls.
Although handwashing facilities exist, they are not conveniently located next to the toilets, hindering promotion of safe hygiene practices among children.
Lack of access to safe water and improved sanitation is a pressing problem for marginalized communities in Kyrgyzstan, and this reinforces social vulnerability. Water and sanitation infrastructure requires substantial repair. National policies relating to WASH are largely focused on large systems, and no specific policy or coordinating body exists for WASH in schools. Rural schools are more likely to have limited or no access to WASH facilities in schools.
The solution
UNICEF has been a long-term partner of Kyrgyzstan in the WASH sector.
In recent years, we helped to conduct assessments that highlighted longstanding problems with water supply and sanitation reliability and quality, public health and hygiene awareness and practices.
We partnered with the government and civil society to improve infrastructure, train health-care workers and other specialists, and promote hygiene practices through communications campaigns.
This helped to achieve some notable results, about access to appropriately treated water, improving water related health indicators and enhancing infrastructure.
At national level, UNICEF is supporting the government to address gaps and weaknesses in standards and designs for WASH, and to ensure the sustainability of existing infrastructure. Country-wide media campaigns support discourse on sanitation and hygiene.
A recent review of the legislation in Kyrgyzstan showed there are sufficient laws, rules, and norms concerning WASH in schools. In general, the country’s legislation in this sector aligns with accepted international standards and practices.
We are also working on developing infrastructure solutions for schools that can be efficiently implemented at scale throughout Kyrgyzstan. One such solution is a model for school latrines that is tailored to local realities. These models have also gone through cost assessments to ensure that they are affordable.
In addition, UNICEF is working to create social norms on proper sanitation and hygiene using a bottom-up approach. UNICEF makes interventions promoting better hygiene standards in target schools designed for the local context, and provides training materials for children, parents and teachers.
Resources
These resources represent just a small selection of materials on water, sanitation and hygiene produced by UNICEF and its partners in Kyrgyzstan. The list is regularly updated to include the latest information.
