"Fourteen years have passed since the Nagorny Karabakh ceasefire was announced, but access to clean water is still an ongoing concern for the civilian population living in conflict-affected villages," said Juan Carlos Carrera, the head of the ICRC's office in Barda.

"Residents of places like Ayridara are regularly prevented from getting access to safe water because many springs are located between military positions or too close to the front line," he added.

The ICRC's community-based water supply project will make a steady supply of clean water available to Ayridara's 150 residents. Work started in April and involved upgrading 1.25 kilometres of pipeline and the installation of two reservoirs and two containers for collecting spring water.

"The water supply system in Ayridara was built during the Soviet era and had fallen into disrepair, so villagers were forced to carry water in buckets from other places," said Bakir Guliyev, the ICRC's engineer in charge of the water project.

"Residents helped us dig trenches for the pipe work and were happy to have contributed to this achievement. We have had the active support of both the local administration and the villagers."

For further information, please contact:
Gulnaz Guliyeva, ICRC Baku, tel: +994 12 465 63 34 or +994 12 465 64 52