Water and sanitation: quenching thirst and restoring dignity

09-03-2012 Photo gallery

Over 780 million people have no clean water. 2.5 billion have no toilet or latrine. Safe water and adequate sanitation are vital for people affected by conflict and it is intolerable when conflict deprives people of this essential element. The ICRC is helping provide water and sanitation for over 20 million people in 48 countries affected by conflict, violence, or their after-effects.As well as preventing disease, safe water and decent sanitation can restore a measure of dignity to people suffering the effects of conflict.

- "Volcano" district, Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo. A young boy walks between newly laid water pipes. The district was completely destroyed by an eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano in 2002.
  © ICRC / P. Moore / v-p-cd-e-01390
Only a third of Goma has running water, with the remaining two-thirds of the population fetching water from Lake Kivu every day, or from private water trucks. The ICRC, in partnership with Mercy Corps, is renovating Goma’s water system, building and renovating pumping stations, and laying new pipes throughout the city.
- Bingerville, Côte d'Ivoire.
  © ICRC / v-p-ci-e-00105
A team from the Red Cross Society of Côte d'Ivoire and the ICRC measures the volume of water in a well during a chlorination campaign following flooding.
- Rafah, Gaza. A Palestinian child fills a jerrycan with clean drinking water from a water truck.
  © ICRC / I. El Baba / v-p-il-e-02368
Gaza faces a serious shortage of fresh water. Much of the water from the Gaza aquifer is undrinkable, with nitrate and chloride levels up to seven times above the level set by the World Health Organization.
- Bamut, Chechnya (near the border with Ingushetia), Russian Federation. The ICRC installed a water tower, a pumping house and two taps next to the school.
  © ICRC / M. Kokic
The water tank the villagers had been using was situated in a mine-affected area, making it dangerous to fetch water from it.
- Suratash, Kyrgyzstan (near the border with Uzbekistan).
  © ICRC / M. Kokic / v-p-kg-e-00154
Girls fetch water from an ICRC water point supplied by a 5000-litre storage bladder.
- Bishgram, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. Cash for work programme. The ICRC employs the most vulnerable people in this community to clean and repair the main irrigation channel.
  © ICRC / D. Revol / v-p-pk-e-01034
The main irrigation channel was left without maintenance for years, due to the ongoing fighting and economic standstill.
- Kilinko, Casamance, Senegal.
  © ICRC / D. Mrazikova / v-p-sn-e-00198
Women fill their buckets at a well installed by the ICRC.
- Mircawleed, Galgaduud province, Somalia.
  © ICRC / A. Hersi / v-p-so-e-00454
A birkhat (water catchment) under construction.
- Choucha camp, Tunisia. This was a transit camp for people who fled Libya due to the internal armed conflict in 2011.
  © ICRC / B. Soumaya / v-p-tn-e-00228
Men of the camp gather at a water point.
- Sana'a, Yemen. Water pumping station, where the ICRC has installed a generator in cooperation with the Water and Sanitation Corporation.
  © ICRC / v-p-ye-e-00752
Months of civil unrest have taken their toll. The country is also in the grips of a long-term water shortage. In June 2011, the ICRC provided the Sana'a Water and Sanitation Corporation with two generators installed at two water-pumping stations in the capital to reinforce the existing network. This has helped supply over 270,000 residents with basic emergency water.

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