Thursday, February 14, 2013

Running dry: Water and sanitation crisis threatens Syrian children

From reliefweb:

"A UNICEF-led nationwide assessment – the first covering the water and sanitation sector since fighting began – reveals that in areas affected by conflict water supplies are only available at one-third of pre-crisis levels. Many people in such areas have only 25 litres of water a day, compared with 75 litres two years ago.
The assessment, carried out in cooperation with municipal water departments and local private contractors, identifies six most at-risk areas – Rural Damascus, Idlib, Der Ez-Zor, Homs, Aleppo and al-Raqqa – where people’s ability to access safe water has been most severely restricted.
For example in Der Ez-Zor in eastern Syria, an area where violence was particularly severe, water is being pumped at just 10 per cent of pre-crisis levels."

More at reliefweb...

This situation highlights the need for applicable emergency water purification technologies.

The UN Report is available here

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Liberia outlines priorities for rebuilding water and sanitation sector

via Global News Network: Liberia

Liberia today unveiled a five-year investment plan which outlines priorities for rebuilding the country’s water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector that had been ravaged by decades of civil conflict. Access to water and sanitation services in Liberia is still low and many facilities are no longer functioning as Liberia recovers from years of war that ended in 2003.
Four out of every ten people still lack access to water, and only a third of the population have access to sanitation services. An estimated 35 percent of existing clinics and schools do not have adequate water and sanitation facilities. Solid waste management services are only available in Monrovia City, covering an estimated 55 percent of the solid waste in the capital.