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Announcing USAID's 2023 Water-Secure World Photo Contest Winners

USAID is thrilled to announce the 2023 Water-Secure World Photo Contest Winners!

These images document ways in which USAID is supporting sustainable and equitable water resources management and access to safe drinking water and sanitation services and hygiene practices around the world. Together, these images capture the breadth of USAID programming to advance the U.S. Global Water Strategy and show how water and sanitation are integral to our lives and livelihoods.

In response to the call for submissions, we received more than 200 photos. The five winning photos provide a glimpse into USAID’s vision of a water-secure future for all.

Scroll to view the winning photos in each category.

Building Resilience Through Strong Water and Wastewater Companies in Egypt

Strategic Objective 1: Strengthen sector governance, financing, institutions, and markets

Chemists in one of Qena Governorate laboratories, in Upper Egypt examine water samples to ensure the quality of produced water. The photo was taken during the activities of the USAID-funded project Integrated Water Solutions Support Technical Assistance, providing technical assistance to Water and Wastewater Companies in five governorates in Upper Egypt.

PHOTO CREDIT: MOHAB ELSHENAWY, TETRA TECH

A Sip of Happiness

Strategic Objective 2: Increase equitable access to safe, sustainable, and climate-resilient water and sanitation services, and the adoption of key hygiene behaviors

Tasting clean water for the first time gave this 13-year-old immense joy. March 2023.

PHOTO CREDIT: RAZAKA RAFENOMANANA DAHERY, RANOWASH PROJECT

USAID Empowers Women Sanitation Business Owners in Rural Bangladesh

Strategic Objective 2: Increase equitable access to safe, sustainable, and climate-resilient water and sanitation services, and the adoption of key hygiene behaviors

Bulbuli Begum, a female sanitation entrepreneur, resides in Barguna, a coastal district of Bangladesh. She is making rings for improved latrines that use a SATO pan. She attended the latrine producers training hosted by USAID’s Feed the Future Bangladesh Nutrition Activity, which trains entrepreneurs on the technical aspects of improved latrines, business management and expansion, marketing to promote products, and market linkage. In rural Bangladesh, where it is rare to see a woman running a sanitation business, her success not only encourages other female entrepreneurs to step foot in this business but also contributes directly to the health of rural Bangladeshis by providing improved and proper sanitation and hygiene management.

PHOTO CREDIT: FEED THE FUTURE BANGLADESH NUTRITION ACTIVITY, ABT ASSOCIATES INC.

Young Female Water Engineer Leads Water Research in Tanzania

Strategic Objective 3: Improve climate-resilient conservation and management of freshwater resources and associated ecosystems

Mariam Mkwabi, a female engineer from the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA) Kalambo District, Tanzania measures water quantity and quality during the design process of water infrastructure projects in the area. She is supported by another RUWASA staff member, Marwa Webiro. November 2022.

PHOTO CREDIT: YUSSUF KAJENJE, USAID’S MAJI NA USAFI WA MAZINGIRA (MUM) ACTIVITY, TANZANIA

Water Trucking Site in Kenya

Strategic Objective 4: Anticipate and reduce conflict and fragility related to water

Residents of Oldonyiro ward in Isiolo, fetching clean water at a water trucking site where Action Against Hunger provides water through funding from USAID.

PHOTO CREDIT: ABEL GICHURU, ACTION AGAINST HUNGER

The volume of submissions to this year's contest made it difficult to select only a few winners. Continue scrolling to learn about the honorable mentions.

Strategic Objective 1 Honorable Mentions

Climate-vulnerable People United to Resolve Water Crisis on their Own

Community people come forward on their own to ensure access to safe drinking water in the salinity-prone and vulnerable climate in southwest Bangladesh. Water Management Committee (WMC) members have been managing pure drinking water supply for their own community using a reverse osmosis (RO) system at salinity-prone Laudobe Union in Dacope Upazila, Khulna district. The RO operator, Debasis Sarker, is filling water into a jar for a local private water vendor while Debasis’ wife, Mita Sarker is keeping record of water sale. USAID’s Nobo Jatra Project (NJP) implemented by World Vision Bangladesh installed 10 ROs in Khulna and Satkhira districts and handed them over to local WMCs. The 10 ROs are providing access to safe drinking water to around 18,000 households per month.

PHOTO CREDIT: ROTON MALO, WORLD VISION BANGLADESH

Young Scientists Engage in Water Experiment at School

Two young students (7 and 8 years old) from Lebanon passionately engage in a science experiment on the physical states of water. The students are from the Saints Coeurs School, North-East of Beirut, which won a grant in 2022 through USAID’s Water Sanitation and Conservation project. Under the grant, the innovative school is on a mission to become Lebanon's first water model institution. The grant enabled the school to install a smart irrigation system, hydroponics greenhouse, rainwater harvesting system, and water-saving fixtures throughout the campus. The hydroponic and rainwater harvesting systems run on a solar power system provided through the grant. As a result, the school will not only save more than 6,100 cubic meters* of water per year, but is able to use these systems for hands-on science training and will eventually engage 20,000 students, 200 teachers, and 20 sister schools in the sustainable management of water. These two student scientists are actively contributing to a brighter, water-resilient future through their participation in multiple educational and awareness-raising activities. *The amount of water saved is equivalent to the annual water consumption of more than 100 people.

PHOTO CREDIT: CYNTHIA BOU ZEID, WATER SANITATION AND CONSERVATION PROJECT

Strategic Objective 2 Honorable Mentions

Forging Her Own Path: Building Skills for WASH Entrepreneurship

Safiya Ahmed, a recent accounting graduate and aspiring entrepreneur from the Oromia region of Ethiopia, is immersed in transformative technical training on floor solutions and SATO pan installation. The training held in Dire Dawa city is provided through collaborative partnership between USAID’s Transform WASH activity and the SPIR-II project. Through this partnership, Safiya and other entrepreneurs are equipped with essential knowledge and skills in sanitation, slab manufacturing, and sustainable business development, empowering them to expand their businesses and contribute to an enabling environment. USAID Transform WASH is working to improve WASH outcomes in Ethiopia by increasing market access to and sustained use of a broader spectrum of affordable WASH products and services, with a substantial focus on sanitation. With more than 480 active partners, 101,148 households upgraded, and over 155,000 sanitation products sold, Transform WASH is paving the way for better WASH access.

PHOTO CREDIT: MEKDIM HAILU, USAID TRANSFORM WASH ACTIVITY, PSI ETHIOPIA

Safe Futures Start with Safe Water

A child, age 10, takes a drink of water from her village’s new water system built by Catholic Relief Services with financial assistance from USAID. Her family used to get water from a spring that was muddy. This new water system provides clean and reliable drinking water directly to the village. Location: Harbu town/Amhara region/Ethiopia. November 2022.

PHOTO CREDIT: MELIKTE TADESSE, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER FOR CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES (CRS) ETHIOPIA

EkoLakay Weekly Waste Collection in Haiti

Sanitation workers in Cap-Haitien, Haiti collect waste for safe treatment and transformation into compost from SOIL's EkoLakay household toilets.

PHOTO CREDIT: CENTRE IMPACT/SAKAPFET OKAP/SOIL

Strategic Objective 3 Honorable Mention

Growing Up Big and Strong with Clean Water

Kakamega County is Kenya’s fourth most populous county and home to its only tropical rainforest. Kakamega Forest supplies local communities with vital resources that have been depleted due to overuse and changes in rainfall patterns. Through afforestation, the community hopes to build back the water supply that supports both the ecosystem and the needs of its ever growing population. USAID’s KIWASH Activity engages with schools to educate communities on safe water access, information which children share with their families. KIWASH also provides fruit tree seedlings that will grow quickly and provide timber, charcoal, fruits and firewood to families without affecting water levels. During a safe water connection and tree planting campaign (pictured), primary school students adopted a tree that they will continue to care for and help to grow.

PHOTO CREDIT: EUPHRESIA LUSEKA, USAID KIWASH PROJECT, KENYA

View all winning photos and honorable mentions below.