Drinking Water
"Provide water, protect life" -IIDF Team
The civil war, the displacement of Somali citizens and the lack of a proper government in Somalia has resulted in millions of people losing access to adequate, clean drinking water. The lack of clean drinking water is one of the reasons why poverty in Somalia has become a major epidemic.
The water problem in Somalia is systemic, but one that can be resolved through straightforward methods. What is simple though, is not always easy.
IIDF’s aim is to construct wells, water collection sites, water treatment, irrigation, and sewage treatment systems. This also entails education on well maintenance, irrigation methods for agriculture, hygiene, and safe water collection and distribution. This will create jobs, a source of pride, and confer greater control to Somalis over the outcomes of their own communities.
Here are some key statistics regarding the water situation in Somalia:
Nearly 1 billion people in
the world do not have
access to clean water, a
basic necessity of
human life.
In Somalia 23% of children under the age of 5 suffer from diarrhoea at any one time, due to a lack of clean water.
In the last year, more than 49,000 people had to flee their homes in search of water and other necessities.
48% of people do not have access to a basic water supply.
4 billion cubic meters of fresh water is lost to the Indian Ocean from the Juba and Shabelle rivers every year due to a lack of proper infrastructure.
Only a quarter of Somalia’s population has access to proper sanitation facilities within 10 meters.
