Asia Saleh Khattak is a member of the Provincial Assembly of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a lawyer. She holds two degrees and is a social activist and political worker who supports human rights, with a focus on women's rights. During her career as a parliamentarian, she worked on transgender protection and on a bill to address rights and acid burns. Additionally, she is a master trainer on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), gender mainstreaming, leadership, and climate change. 

Asia is a public-oriented person who strives to present in her community. She holds awareness campaigns on a variety of human rights issues including women's right to inheritance and property, stopping violence against women, and raising awareness about how to seek justice through the courts. 

IVLP Impact Award Project: WASH, Health, and Hygiene

Most rural communities do not have access to hand washing facilities with soap and many people are not aware of the proper ways to wash their hands and bodies. This project addressed this by raising awareness to increase access to clean water and reliable sanitation, promoting basic hygiene practices in rural areas, improving hygiene amongst children and girls, and bolstering access to basic facilities in schools.

This project consisted of ten lectures from experts on health, hygiene, and water sanitation practices at various schools, health centers, and rural villages in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The emphasis on proper sanitation will help improve standard of living conditions in these rural communities and help decrease the spread of waterborne diseases.

Project participants gained knowledge of proper hand- and body-washing, along with strategies to domestically filter water, which will lead to a decrease in water borne diseases. There is potential for countless continued indirect benefits and ripple effects throughout communities, as participants share knowledge of these proper health and hygiene practices with friends and family. 

Asia was also a panelist for the IVLP Impact Awards Alumni Discussion Series panel on “Global Public Health” which you can read more about here.

"I hope that I will achieve my target by [raising] awareness in the community and school-level girls." - Asia Saleh Khattak

IVLP Exchange Experience 

Asia was a participant in the IVLP Project Empowering Women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Legislative Branches, organized by the U.S. Department of State and the Mississippi Consortium for International Development.

Asia's exchange experience led to the development of her IVLP Impact Award Project: "I was inspired during my IVLP program by the league of women who start their work without a single penny and without resources... This is a total inspiration that women can do anything they struggle for."

U.S. Communities Visited

Washington, DC; Manchester, NH; New York City, NY

Country: Pakistan

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