Clean Water for Africa

Ensuring camp-based refugees a safe and adequate supply of water is an ongoing challenge for UNHCR and its partners. Many camps are located in arid areas of Africa and central Asia or in hot wet regions where water-borne diseases and parasites pose a particular threat. Even in established camps in eastern Chad, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya, most refugees receive far less than the international minimum water requirement of 20 litres per person per day. Overcrowding easily results in water contamination and diseases like dysentery, bloody diarrhoea and cholera are widespread.

For UNHCR, addressing a camp's need for water can as simple as distributing jerry cans or as complex as installing community wells and pipelines, or building sophisticated water pumping and purification plants. In the initial phase of an emergency, our field teams often have to resort to water trucking, an expensive and ultimately unsustainable practice. As soon as possible, we engage hydrologists and engineers to identify possible sources of potable ground water in the vicinity of the refugee population. Our field staff also work with the refugees themselves to establish 'water councils' in the camps. These councils are responsible for the use and maintenance of the community wells and distribute information on hygiene and waterborne disease.

Your donation can help provide clean, safe water for a refugee community.