Under Qatar Red Crescent Society’s (QRCS) Giving Sustains Good Ramadan Campaign 1443 AH, a set of water and sanitation (WATSAN) projects will be carried out in many poor and unfortunate countries. At a total cost of more than QR 13,967,600, these projects will benefit approximately 523,000 people in 6 countries (Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Mali).
WATSAN is a major and priority area of QRCS’s work, given its indispensable nature for the victims of conflict and disasters. Millions of lives are affected by damage or destruction of infrastructure and interrupted water supply in residential districts. Millions of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees find themselves stuck in uninhabited or uninhabitable areas, which means no clean drinking water, sanitary facilities, hygiene supplies, and environmental sanitation.
This year, QRCS’s WATSAN plan involves digging a borehole equipped with a pump in Sheikh Radwan, Gaza, to serve 50,000 beneficiaries at a cost of QR 612,000. In the same district, a water supply network will be constructed at a cost of QR 310,170. Similarly, for Zaytun District’s population of 50,000 people, there will be a borehole at a cost of QR 624,000, and a water supply network at a cost of QR 224,938.
In Syria, the drinking water supply network will be renovated with pipelines and tanks, for the benefit of 112,029 IDPs and the local community, at a cost of QR 2,274,472. On a daily basis, 20 tankers are deployed to distribute drinking water to the families at IDP camps, with a total 13,898 beneficiaries and QR 980,000 cost.
In Yemen, five boreholes will be dug and equipped with solar-powered pumps in areas inhabited by an overall population of 12,600 people in total, at a cost of QR 1,837,980. Also, 10 rainwater harvesting reservoirs will be constructed for everyday use by about 15,000 beneficiaries. The project’s cost is QR 465,000. In addition, a water treatment plant will be constructed to serve 2,200 beneficiaries, at a cost of QR 660,000.
The fourth country is Somalia, where 30 boreholes will be dug and equipped with diesel-powered pumps, tanks, and a water supply network to meet the needs of 150,000 people, at a cost of QR 3,379,050. No. five is Afghanistan, where 50 boreholes will be dug and equipped with solar-powered pumps to serve 15,750 beneficiaries, at a cost of QR 1,870,000. Lastly, in Mali, six boreholes will be dug and equipped with solar-powered pumps, for the benefit of 1,500 people, at a cost of QR 729,996.
These vital projects are funded by the generous donations of charity payers in Qatari.
Thanks to the support from Qatari institutional and individual donors, QRCS has executed many WATSAN projects in poor countries, with a total cost of $2,754,748 (or over 10 million), for the benefit of 220,664 people.
Among the key projects in northern Syria were supporting pooled irrigation by rehabilitating irrigation channels and agricultural drains, and another project to improve access to clean water by rehabilitating water wells, constructing tanks and water supply networks, operating pumping stations, deploying water tankers, and maintaining sewage pipelines. The total number of beneficiaries from these activities amounted to 64,467 people. In addition, 30,300 Syrian refugees benefited from water treatment plants operated under the “Water for Mercy” project in Lebanon.
In Yemen, 20 water wells were dug and equipped with hand pumps, and another 30 wells were deepened and rehabilitated with power supply, with a total of 41,965 beneficiaries. Achievements also included digging 321 water wells in Sri Lanka and executing a WATSAN project for health centers and neighboring villages in three regions of Mali.
