The rising number of detainees and prisoners in many conflict-affected countries is putting a major strain on the coping capacity of detention centres to meet inmates' water, sanitation and overall public health needs. In many societies, prisons are forgotten or neglected, causing them to become breeding grounds for disease due to a lack of clean water, limited access to latrines, inadequate waste management, poor hygiene and overcrowded living quarters.

Photographs illustrating some of the projects carried out by the ICRC to ensure that victims of armed conflict or other violence have sufficient access to clean drinking water and sanitary facilities.

The ICRC Water and Habitat Unit aims to assure that victims of war have access to water for drinking and for domestic use, and to preserve the habitat that protects the population against environmental hazards. The ultimate goal is to contribute to a reduction in morbidity, mortality and suffering caused by a collapse of the water and habitat system.

Ophélie Deyrolles does a normal ICRC job: she brings protection and assistance to civilians affected by armed conflict. She works in the Visayas, a string of islands tucked away in the heart of the Philippines. What makes Ophélie’s job different is that she has to hike to reach remote communities. The ICRC's Iolanda Jaquemet reports on one of her arduous journeys.

On the southern island of Mindanao, thousands of civilians fleeing clashes between the Philippine army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front live precariously. The ICRC’s Iolanda Jaquemet talks to some of the civilians and reports on what the organization is doing to support them.

Since crisis erupted in 2002, the ICRC has been the only organization able to manage and maintain the water-supply system in northern Côte d’Ivoire which supplies water to over 1.5 million people. Now that peace has been restored, the private operator, SODECI, can take over once again. Iolanda Jaquemet reports on this operational success story, which has largely been the result of cooperation between the ICRC and the company's courageous employees.

Around 10,000 people on a small island in the eastern part of Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta now have access to safe drinking water thanks to the Myanmar Red Cross Society and the ICRC.

The small town of São Domingos in northern Guinea-Bissau, a few kilometres from the Senegalese border, has lacked electricity since 1998, along with another, even more precious resource – running water. This is in spite of the fact that the Cacheu River runs alongside.

Life is slowly returning to the once-thriving camp of Nahr el-Bared, in northern Lebanon, which was devastated by three months of fighting in 2007. The ICRC is helping in the rebirth of the camp by restoring the water supply. Samar el Kadi reports from Tripoli.

Thousands of people who fled their homes following the violence in Kenya are now at risk of not having sufficient access to clean water. The ICRC and Kenya Red Cross (KRCS) are teaming up to rectify the situation in central Rift Valley. Bernard Barrett reports.

From afar it looks just like any other artificial lake. But as you get closer, the smell tells a different story. The ICRC's Andrea Koenig describes how the ICRC, the Qatar Red Crescent and local authorities teamed up to ward off disaster in Khan Yunis.

Central African Republic has witnessed heavy rainfalls and flooding during this past summer. However, water that is safe for consumption is a precious resource for most people in a country where bottled water in supermarkets costs one US dollar per litre. Many people suffer from water-borne diseases, and it is commonplace to see children with distended bellies due to parasites. Marçal Izard reports.

With a population of 46,000, Pabbo is the largest internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in the Gulu district, filled with rural folk who fled the countryside in the early 1990s due to armed conflict. Ugandan journalist Denis Ocwich reports on an ICRC water and sanitation project that has given rise to new hope by improving health in the camps.

In Darfur, assisting people in rural areas before the rainy season starts involves a huge effort which is complicated by the volatile security situation. In such a challenging environment, how well the ICRC operates depends greatly on timing, organization and maintaining contact with all sides to the conflict.

Despite a glorious history in ancient times as the seat of a powerful king of Nepal, Jumla is today one of the poorest and least developed districts in the country, suffering from the effects of a decade-long civil war. Its villages are plagued with high infant mortality due to poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water. The ICRC is bringing hope to the region by building new water supply systems and restoring existing ones.

The consequences of the armed conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia that ended in 2000 are still felt by many of its people, not least in the difficulty of gaining access to clean water supplies. Vip Ogola reports.

Stability appears to be within reach in Burundi after 13 years of conflict. Now the fight is on to restore vital facilities, such as water and sanitation. ICRC projects have so far provided safe water to some 100,000 people around the country.

In 2005, about 11 million people benefited for ICRC's Water and Habitat programmes around the world

Details of the ICRC's programmes, focussing on water and sanitation and other aspects of community care, in areas that have been affected by the conflict.

The Cité-Soleil shantytown in Port-au-Prince has been the scene of deadly clashes between armed groups and UN forces. Local people live in abject poverty against a backdrop of violence, without even basic services to make their lives more bearable. Together, the ICRC and the Haitian Red Cross are providing an ambulance service for the sick and wounded, repairing water points and seeking to give some hope again to the people of Cité-Soleil.

This film captures the 12 year period between 1991 and May 2003 during which the ICRC's engineers and technicians were involved in the rehabilitation of water and sewage treatment facilities in Iraq. It demonstrates ICRC's work to ensure that the most vulnerable communities benefited from a reliable water and sewage system, providing drinking water, treating waste and minimizing waterborne diseases. Over the years, this programme in Iraq became one of the ICRC's major involvement in the field of water, sanitation and habitat and the film shows how the programme adapted constantly to the ever-changing political and economical situation in the country.

Present-day conflicts often end in stalemates, situations that are neither war nor peace. In such cases emergency aid cannot be withdrawn from one day to the next. Time is needed for basic services, such as water-supply systems, to start functioning normally again. This in-depth film features three different types of water programme carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in cooperation with local bodies. First, two water-supply projects are shown in an urban context, in Mogadishu (Somalia) and Bukavu (Democratic Republic of the Congo). The next project is a similar one, this time carried out in a rural setting, on the Lake Kivu Island of Idjwi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The last part of the film focuses on the ICRC's water and sanitation programmes aimed at improving sanitary conditions in Rwanda's overcrowded prisons. These three examples, set in different environments and using different approaches, demonstrate that access to safe water is an essential component of any public health programme.

The handbook provides a summary of the technical expertise gained by ICRC engineers when dealing with environmental engineering problems commonly found in places of detention. Detailed drawings are used to outline solutions on a range of related issues such as water supply, sewage and waste disposal, food preparation, vector control, general hygiene and health. This handbook is intended for all those who work in prisons and who can contribute to the improvement of the conditions of detention for persons deprived of their freedom.

The Forum series opens with the theme war and water, chosen for its extreme importance as the source of life, but also of conflict, and as a major concern in humanitarian action.

The hills of this small central African country are rich with the blue gold sorely lacking elsewhere on the continent. And yet too many people are still deprived of drinking water. An interview with Filipa Anacoreta, coordinator of the ICRC’s “WatHab” (water and habitat) programmes in Burundi.

ICRC water engineer Johannes Bruwer is just back from a 14-month assignment in Sa'ada, Yemen. He explains why access to safe water is crucial to Yemenis affected by the conflict and how the ICRC has responded to some of the most urgent needs.

More than one billion people worldwide lack access to safe water. For around 300 million, the problem is exacerbated by armed conflict or internal violence. On the occasion of World Water Day 2007, Robert Mardini, head of the ICRC's water and habitat unit, describes the organization's distinct approach to its work in situations of armed conflict.

in the field

Photos illustrating the ICRC's work to ensure that the victims of conflict have adequate access to water and sanitation.

Instant hotels, Finnish saunas and coconut leaves are part of the story of how National Societies shelter people hit by tragedy. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 2, 2008

While the situation is gradually returning to normal in hechnya, an ICRC worker gives an account of his return to the Vedeno area, a place he enjoyed in his youth. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 3, 2007

In many parts of the world people take it for granted that they can turn on a tap or flush a toilet. But more than 1 billion people have little choice but to drink from potentially harmful sources of water.. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 2, 2007

Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 1, 2007

The violent clashes in Burundi have provoked a massive displacement of the population, resulting in an increased need for drinking water in the areas where the displaced have settled. In French only.