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Providing Safe and Sustainable Water for the IDPs, residing in Al Jofenah Hosting Settlement

Al Jofenah Hosting Settlement, Ma'rib Gov. The IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) of Al Jofenah Hosting Settlement have always struggled to

July 9, 2020 · 2 min read

The IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) of Al Jofenah Hosting Settlement have always struggled to secure sufficient water supplies. Often, they rely on shallow wells that have contaminated water, which might be a reason for passing lives away, especially children. What aggravated the dilemma is the new IDPs' comers to Ma'rib Governorate from far and wide, which has become an obsession and concern for many humanitarian actors, foremost of which is BFD.

Mohammad Al Qobati, a forty-one-year-old, is a father of four children. He was forced to flee with his family their home in Taizz Governorate, where they ended up in Al Jofenah Hosting Settlement for IDPs in Ma'irb City.

"I fled from Taizz to provide my family shelter in Ma'irb Governorate, I did not know how hard it is to find clean water," Mohammad said. He continued saying, "My smallest daughter, Shafeqah used to fall sick and whenever I took her to the health center, the doctor asked me about the source of water that we drink. I responded that we used to fetch water from exposed boreholes, where cattle usually drink water."

However, BFD (Building Foundation for Development), funded by YHF (Yemen Humanitarian Fund), did not stand idly by and let 38,388 IDPs and 1,164 (HCs) Host Communities in Al Jofenah Site suffer more. Therefore, BFD constructed an elevated reservoir with a capacity of 200 m3, installed water networks with all components, and built-up 12 water distribution points, each point consists of 4 tanks. This project aims to improve the health level by providing clean and safe drinking water in health, water, sanitation, and hygiene. Furthermore, raising the level of awareness among the IDPs and HCs about the use of water and methods of disease prevention, including diarrhea, as well as promoting health awareness to reduce the number of injuries causing death by ensuring adequate access to Clean Water, Sanitation and Hygiene to the most vulnerable groups.

Currently, clean water reaches each beneficiary with quantities no less than 7.5–15 liters per day, including Mohammad Al Qobati and his family. “I used to take my daughter to the health center and the doctor kept advising me to always boil the water before drinking, but now, I stopped boiling the water before drinking since BFD provided us with clean water; moreover, I stopped going to the health center because my daughter Shafeqah is no longer drink polluted water as she was before." This is what was concluded by one of the IDPs in Al Jofenah Hosting Settlement in Ma'rib City, 'Mohammad Al-Qobati'

Sustainability

BFD delivered both IDPs and the Host Community training and sensitization on water management and maintenance of the systems for long-term sustainability.