OCHA: Clean water for 89,000 people in East Darfur

CARE international-Switzerland (CIS) is supporting access to clean water for about 89,000 refugees, displaced people, and their host communities in three localities in East Darfur.

CIS is rehabilitating 11 water yards in Assalaya, Yassin, and Bahr El Arab localities, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in its latest weekly bulletin.

The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) are funding the project.

In Assalaya locality, six water yards will cater for the needs of about 46,000 people living in Umgreigo, Elijam, Umsaeeda, Esheiraya, and El Nimir refugee camp. El Nimir refugee camp will eventually host South Sudanese refugees currently residing in Raja old camp near Ed Daein, capital of East Darfur, and El Ferdous. The rehabilitated water pumps will benefit both the refugee and host community.

Since September 2016, CIS has been trucking water to Raja old camp serving an estimated 4,000 South Sudanese refugees. The organisation will continue providing water to Raja old camp until mid-February, when the refugees will be relocated to El Nimir refugee camp.

The four rehabilitated water yards in Um Biom, Selaia’a, and Kilakil, will benefit 30,000 displaced and host communities.

In Kario refugee camp in Bahr El Arab locality, 13,000 refugees and host community members will benefit from the rehabilitation of water yards. Currently, water is trucked daily to Kario by the governmental Water and Sanitation Department (WES), with support from Unicef, will also drill two boreholes in Kario.

According to the 2014 Sudan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), 45.1 percent of the households in East Darfur have access to improved water sources, compared with 68.1 percent of all households in Sudan.