Adolescents help communities shun open defecation in Jhang

Jhang, Punjab 30 April 2021:  “Fear and anxiety were with me every time I went to the fields to relieve myself,” says 17-year-old Ruqqaiya Bibi. 

“I was always afraid that I would be bitten by a snake or even molested by a stranger. I could step out of my home and go to the fields only when it was dark, go before daybreak or after sunset. I had to muster enough courage to step into the dark as it would be embarrassing in day light,” she adds.

Ruqqaiya Bibi lives in Ahmad Pur Siyal, a village located in the Jhang district of Pakistan’s north-eastern Punjab province. She is among the one in five people living in the province who still defecate in the open, an age-old practice in communities which have not been equipped with and educated on adequate sanitation yet.

To bring about positive change, the Government of Punjab initiated a campaign to help rural communities abandon the practice of open defecation. The Accelerated Sanitation & Water for All (ASWA II) project was launched in support of the campaign by UNICEF with generous funding from the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, in partnership with local NGOs.

The project, launched in 2014, has already helped more than 400 villages in the Jhang district to be certified Open Defecation Free (ODF). Moreover, 60 schools and 50 Basic Health Units in the district have benefited from improved water and sanitation facilities

To make sure that demand was met with supply, and that families had access to construction material, the ASWA II project helped one community member in each village to set up a shop selling the required material.

Despite his meagre resources as a farmer, Ruqqaiya’s father Imam Bukhsh made sure that she completed her secondary education in a private school located in a neighbouring village. Soon after she graduated, Ruqqaiya was hired as an elementary teacher by the same school. 

When Ruqqaiya was a student, she had joined the WASH club in her school. What started as a hobby soon became a passion, as she realised the interconnection between hygiene and good health.

After joining the school as a teacher, she immediately attended a training on UNICEF’s ‘Three Star Approach’ to support children’s and adolescents positive behaviour change when it comes to hygiene practices.

Ruqqaiya started visiting families in the village and encouraged them to adopt hygienic practices such as washing hands with soap at critical times, protecting the environment, using latrines rather than practicing open defecation.

One of the first villagers she convinced to build a latrine at home was her own father, Imam Bukhsh.

“He didn’t have enough money, so I saved my salary for three months and gave it to him,” she tells “He contracted a loan to cover additional expenses and we bought construction material from the local shop.”

For Ruqqaiya, it proved life changing.

“We now have a latrine in our house. I no longer have to sneak out at night and go to the fields,” she says. “My family is proud of me. I am grateful to them for giving me an education and the freedom to try and help our community to adopt healthy behaviours.”

Ruqqaiya’s initiative to construct a latrine in her family’s house soon inspired other families to follow suit.

“The ASWA II project has helped develop strong community networks, improve hygiene behaviours and build or restore WASH facilities in the most vulnerable communities,” says Sabahat Ambreen, UNICEF WASH Specialist. “This has also contributed to reduce COVID-19 transmission last year as schools and health care facilities have a better capacity to implement Infection, Prevention and Control strategies.”