This study supports SDGs 3 and 6 by analysing data from 88 low-income and middle-income countries and showing geographical disparities in access to clean water and sanitation facilities. These findings identify where efforts to increase access to safe water and sanitation have been successful over time, and highlight the need for targeted and tailored interventions to reach those communities and regions that have been left behind.
Living in a harsh, desert climate, Omani rural communities have developed locally-appropriate knowledge to deal with water scarcity. Similar to the qanat, the aflaj taps into the natural water table and uses a gravity system to channel water through underground channels to villages. Traditional techniques of water management, such as the aflaj, represents a way of adapting to and coping with difficult climates which have persisted for millennia. However, knowledge systems have often ‘decayed’ with the onset of modernity.
