Roughly 50 percent of Haiti's population does not have access to clean water. Rural communities like Deschapelles are much less likely to have access to clean water than urban communities and are at the highest risk for deadly waterborne illnesses like diarrheal disease and cholera. Hôpital Albert Schweitzer's (HAS) advanced water system provides clean water daily to the hospital, its supporting buildings, and 30,000 people in the local community. Continuous operation and maintenance of these water resources contributes to mitigation of climate risks, including increased frequency of drought and reduced water quality.
Climatelinks Photo Gallery
Do you have a photo that you want to add to the photo gallery?
Welcome to the Climatelinks photo gallery. Here you can find a range of climate change and development photos from our photo contest, our blogs, and USAID’s Flickr sites. Submit your photos to the photo gallery here.
- Clear all
- Photo Topic: Infrastructure
- (-) Infrastructure
Showing 27 results
Aaita Sing Pakhrin, a trained mason, is photographed at work on a newly constructed house belonging to Jit Bahadur Thing, a USAID ReCoVER project participant. The house is located in Bakaiya-2 Makwanpur District of the Bagmati Province, Nepal and is built by the USAID ReCoVER project under the full construction house activity implemented by Catholic Relief Services.
At the Mekong School in Chiang Khong, Thailand, Kru Tee "Niwat Roykaew's Goldman Environmental Prize awardee" welcomes the USAID team, along with implementing partners. This visit was part of the Mekong Community Empowerment for Northern Thailand Ceremonial Event. Cooperative activities have been initiated between several USG-funded organization, including Mekong Safeguards, Mekong for the Future, SERVIR-Southeast Asia, partner CSOs, and local stakeholders. The main focus is on addressing the impacts of infrastructure overdevelopment on communities along the Mekong River. Community empowerment activities and USG partnership are considered crucial in addressing with these challenges.
To support waterworks personnel like Rustom and Rowel, USAID Philippines, through its Safe Water Project, stepped in to assist the Aborlan Municipal Government in Palawan. This initiative involves the funding, reconstruction, and redesigning of the water supply systems in Culandanum and Talakaigan, Aborlan, which will benefit more than 2,000 households. The project aims to create climate-resilient water systems that can withstand the impacts of future disasters. By providing robust infrastructure, the water supply system can be better prepared to face climate-related challenges.
Once the reconstruction is complete, waterworks personnel will no longer have to rely on frequent repair works, which are often challenging inside the watershed. The improved water system will enhance their ability to perform regular operations and maintenance effectively, ensuring consistent and reliable access to clean water for the community.
In the wake of Typhoon Rai (Philippine name: Super Typhoon Odette) devastating the nation in 2021, numerous local governments have earnestly invested in climate-resilient water supply infrastructure. The Rizal local government unit in Palawan, after a year of intensive training and mentorship through USAID Philippines' Safe Water Project, constructed a new intake structure, adhering to climate-resilient design standards and evidence-based water source assessment and development.
In Jordan, a country facing severe water scarcity, a population surge and influx of refugees have intensified the demand for water, straining the already struggling water supply systems. Climate change exacerbates the situation, bringing extreme heat and insufficient rainfall. Jordan suffers these effects despite the country's relatively small carbon footprint compared to other major contributors to climate change. USAID has taken action to address the water supply challenges through its Water Engineering Services Activity (WES). The Amman Water System Improvement Project was initiated to reinforce and extend the existing water supply network, adding approximately 40 km of water pipelines. The primary goal of this project is to enhance access to clean and reliable water sources, thus bolstering the country's water security and improving the efficiency of water supply systems.
Students sitting outside, under the hot sun, to attend class due to the poor conditions of the school building in Pokharwar village, Satna District of Madhya Pradesh state of India.
Engineer Rodana Al Dabbas supervising pipelaying of the water network in Ain Al Basha, Jordan. The pipelaying is part of USAID’s Management Engineering Services Contract II, which is working to increase water supply through the replacement of old water network components, improvement of water network management, installation of pressure management and monitoring systems, investments in high accuracy smart meters, and leak detection equipment. These interventions, in partnership with the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, aim to strengthen Jordan’s ability to improve its water security, adapt to climate change, and meet the needs of the growing population.
A young Jordanian boy drinking water from a tap. Jordan is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world and climate change is aggravating the water shortage situation. USAID’s Management Engineering Services Contract is working to increase water supply through water utilities institutional development, replacement of old water network components, improvement of water network management, installation of pressure management and monitoring systems, investments in high accuracy smart meters, and leak detection equipment.
The country of Jordan is largely desert, making it vulnerable to climate change. Inconsistent rainfall, higher temperatures, and population increase stress the already limited water resources. In the Balqa Governorate, USAID’s Management Engineering Services Contract II Activity is working to rehabilitate and restructure the water supply system to support the Water Authority of Jordan, reduce water loss, and save limited water resources. Photo subject Khaled is working as part of the project to improve drinking water supply.
USAID's Water Engineering Services Activity (WES) is committed to upgrading and expanding the overloaded Fuhais and Maheis Wastewater Treatment Plant. The existing treatment plant has two maturation ponds, one of which will be utilized for the new treatment plant upgrade and expansion. This project aims to boost the plant's efficiency and enhance the quality of its effluent. By doing so, it will enable the utilization of Jordan’s limited water resources for other purposes, leading to increased access to clean water and enhanced living conditions for the surrounding community.
In the arid regions of northern Kenya, groundwater boreholes are providing increased climate resilience and water security. In this picture, local communities access water from solar powered borehole systems funded by USAID.
The debate and justification in climate change is going on for years but now they are visible on the ground. This is the picture of a village in Humla District, where the community is facing changed patterns of precipitation and adapting to changes by changing the roof type. This community used to have flat mud roofs that are now turned into tin roofs to combat changing precipitation patterns. Picture location: Humla District, Nepal, 2018 USAID supported program: Paani/DAI
Typhoon Maysak crossed Chuuk and Yap States between March 29 and April 1, 2015, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. As USAID’s implementing partner under the Disaster preparedness for Effective Response project, the International Organization for Migration mobilized to implement USAID’s Typhoon Maysak Reconstruction Project (TMRP). The multi-sectoral initiative was designed to help Maysak-affected communities rebuild following the devastating storm, and to help restore critical public infrastructure and utilities. For both new homes and public infrastructure facilities, IOM worked to design buildings that would be able to withstand another storm and maintain traditional design elements whenever possible. IOM also trained local community members in sustainable construction techniques. In this photo, taken by Ms. Rachel Weinheimer on November 10, 2016 on an outer island of Chuuk, H.E. Robert A. Riley III, the current ambassador of the United States of America to FSM, presents a local beneficiary with a newly reconstructed home.
Lake Arenal Hydropower Plant, Costa Rica, October 2014. Costa Rica runs on renewable energy for an average of 300 days a year, largely thanks to hydropower generated in stations like this one. Costa Rica’s proactive environmental policies are the reason it is considered a strong example of sustainable development around the world. However, much of Costa Rica's environmental development was not well regulated as it was undertaken, and numerous problems persist.
The USAID and NREL Partnership hosted a modeling group from the Philippines at NREL's campus for a first-of-its-kind, month-long research exchange supporting the Philippines' development of competitive renewable energy zones (CREZ). By working directly with NREL's power sector experts, the group refined key models used to enable proactive transmission planning for scaling up renewable energy in the Philippines.
Noriel Reyes, of the Philippines Department of Energy, and Jervie Bagsik, of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, are seen taking part in a collaboration session with NREL and USAID team members during their visit. Read more about the exchange at: http://bit.ly/2m5yq9e
Photo taken by Werner Slocum. July 30, 2019.