Isenim Factsheet
- Founded in 2005
- Founding member of WfWP
- Mission: Promote sustainable development and increased access to water, focusing on improved sanitation and drinking water supplies in schools
- Focus area: Autonomous Republic of Karakalpakstan in Uzbekistan
- Level: Local
- Main themes: Water sanitation, environment and enterprise development
Milestones
Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in Karakalpakstan, Safe Drinking Water for Kandekly (600 beneficiaries), Extention of Central Water Supply System to madeniyat and Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in Karakalpakstan.
Isenim started a project in Karakalpakstan to improve quality of drinking water and the environment, providing access to adequate sanitation, raising awareness about health, and income generation through increased yields of crops. By providing sanitation facilities such as public urine diverting dry toilets in schools and communities. Also ecosan seminars were provided for local inhabitants to mitigate concerns about recycling/reusing of urine and faeces in their gardens and local traditions and beliefs concerning concerning human excreta in their gardens. In the project villages information about ecological sanitation are spreading rapidly and wide, and inhabitants of other neighbouring villages have been requesting information about the construction of such toilets. Project staff members were nicknamed “toilet apa” translating into “toilet constructing women”.
Sharing experiences and learning from NGOs also working on ecological sanitation in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Tashkent- are part of Isenims programmes as well. Visitors from Tashkent and Tajikistan for instance had doubts about smell urine diverting dry toilets might have, but after their visit they were astonished and convinced that such toilets are an excellent solution.
The project reached its objectives: inhabitants of villages Madeniyat, Kandekly and Karabugha received adequate sanitation facilities, awareness was raised on their health and environment, and how they are interlinked. Moreover, the project contributed to generate additional income in the project areas through increased crop yields after application of urine and composted faeces in their gardens and lands. Yet, the project faced difficulties because of the scope and complexity of the problem, the limited time frame, a lack of sufficient resources, and issues such as the state’s strict control over NGO bank accounts.
