This publication looks at key water and sanitation issues in conflict-affected countries where the ICRC works. It analyses challenges from the point of view of operational practice, which has developed and become more professional as the years have gone by.

In many conflicts, disease kills more civilians than bullets. Reason enough for the ICRC to call on governments to ensure safe water and decent sanitation for civilians in conflict zones. An interview with Robert Mardini, head of the ICRC’s water and habitat unit, on the occasion of the Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.

When several members of one family in the Kajur area of Kandahar province died recently, and over 100 others in the same village fell sick with watery diarrhoea, alarm bells started ringing. On 22 August alone, nearly 40 patients were taken to Mirwais hospital in Kandahar for treatment.

Life is tough for people living in rural Afghanistan, including those in the beautiful but remote province of Bamiyan. The ICRC's Habibullah Hussaini met villagers who are determined to make a difference in their lives by improving their access to clean drinking water.

Working with the authorities and communities, the ICRC is harnessing the sun to provide safe water for Eritreans in remote parts of the region bordering Ethiopia. Michael Kifle of the ICRC’s Asmara office reports.

The population of Goma, the capital of North Kivu, has nearly tripled since 1994 owing to the many waves of people driven from their homes in the countryside. The city's infrastructure was not prepared for such an increase, and over half of residents don't have regular access to drinking water. This has led to poor hygiene and a growing incidence of disease, particularly among the displaced people who have found refuge in the city. Here are portraits of three of them and their daily struggle to find clean water.

The inhabitants of Jobel are fighting a daily battle against the elements. There is no drinking water and the island is being assailed by the ocean. But from now on, they can count on ICRC support. The organization is constructing rainwater tanks and aims to help improve the fishing yield.

Although cholera infection and mortality rates have declined recently, the epidemic has claimed nearly 4,000 lives and reportedly stricken over 90,000 people since last August. The ICRC is helping improve access to clean water and ultimately prevent disease.

The ICRC is supporting the health authorities' efforts to cope with the cholera epidemic. Since last December it has extended its assistance to rural areas.

Water shortage is a familiar problem in Gemahallo Province in northern Ethiopia. However for the residents of one district in the province, this will now be a thing of the past. The ICRC’s Zewdu Ayalew explains.

Ophélie Deyrolles does a normal ICRC job: she brings protection and assistance to civilians affected by armed conflict. She works in the Visayas, a string of islands tucked away in the heart of the Philippines. What makes Ophélie’s job different is that she has to hike to reach remote communities. The ICRC's Iolanda Jaquemet reports on one of her arduous journeys.

On the southern island of Mindanao, thousands of civilians fleeing clashes between the Philippine army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front live precariously. The ICRC’s Iolanda Jaquemet talks to some of the civilians and reports on what the organization is doing to support them.

Since crisis erupted in 2002, the ICRC has been the only organization able to manage and maintain the water-supply system in northern Côte d’Ivoire which supplies water to over 1.5 million people. Now that peace has been restored, the private operator, SODECI, can take over once again. Iolanda Jaquemet reports on this operational success story, which has largely been the result of cooperation between the ICRC and the company's courageous employees.

Around 10,000 people on a small island in the eastern part of Myanmar's cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta now have access to safe drinking water thanks to the Myanmar Red Cross Society and the ICRC.

The small town of São Domingos in northern Guinea-Bissau, a few kilometres from the Senegalese border, has lacked electricity since 1998, along with another, even more precious resource – running water. This is in spite of the fact that the Cacheu River runs alongside.

The rising number of detainees and prisoners in many conflict-affected countries is putting a major strain on the coping capacity of detention centres to meet inmates' water, sanitation and overall public health needs. In many societies, prisons are forgotten or neglected, causing them to become breeding grounds for disease due to a lack of clean water, limited access to latrines, inadequate waste management, poor hygiene and overcrowded living quarters.

Thousands of people who fled their homes following the violence in Kenya are now at risk of not having sufficient access to clean water. The ICRC and Kenya Red Cross (KRCS) are teaming up to rectify the situation in central Rift Valley. Bernard Barrett reports.

The ICRC Water and Habitat Unit aims to assure that victims of war have access to water for drinking and for domestic use, and to preserve the habitat that protects the population against environmental hazards. The ultimate goal is to contribute to a reduction in morbidity, mortality and suffering caused by a collapse of the water and habitat system.

Details of the ICRC's programmes, focussing on water and sanitation and other aspects of community care, in areas that have been affected by the conflict.

The Cité-Soleil shantytown in Port-au-Prince has been the scene of deadly clashes between armed groups and UN forces. Local people live in abject poverty against a backdrop of violence, without even basic services to make their lives more bearable. Together, the ICRC and the Haitian Red Cross are providing an ambulance service for the sick and wounded, repairing water points and seeking to give some hope again to the people of Cité-Soleil.

This film captures the 12 year period between 1991 and May 2003 during which the ICRC's engineers and technicians were involved in the rehabilitation of water and sewage treatment facilities in Iraq. It demonstrates ICRC's work to ensure that the most vulnerable communities benefited from a reliable water and sewage system, providing drinking water, treating waste and minimizing waterborne diseases. Over the years, this programme in Iraq became one of the ICRC's major involvement in the field of water, sanitation and habitat and the film shows how the programme adapted constantly to the ever-changing political and economical situation in the country.

Present-day conflicts often end in stalemates, situations that are neither war nor peace. In such cases emergency aid cannot be withdrawn from one day to the next. Time is needed for basic services, such as water-supply systems, to start functioning normally again. This in-depth film features three different types of water programme carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in cooperation with local bodies. First, two water-supply projects are shown in an urban context, in Mogadishu (Somalia) and Bukavu (Democratic Republic of the Congo). The next project is a similar one, this time carried out in a rural setting, on the Lake Kivu Island of Idjwi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The last part of the film focuses on the ICRC's water and sanitation programmes aimed at improving sanitary conditions in Rwanda's overcrowded prisons. These three examples, set in different environments and using different approaches, demonstrate that access to safe water is an essential component of any public health programme.

The handbook provides a summary of the technical expertise gained by ICRC engineers when dealing with environmental engineering problems commonly found in places of detention. Detailed drawings are used to outline solutions on a range of related issues such as water supply, sewage and waste disposal, food preparation, vector control, general hygiene and health. This handbook is intended for all those who work in prisons and who can contribute to the improvement of the conditions of detention for persons deprived of their freedom.

The Forum series opens with the theme war and water, chosen for its extreme importance as the source of life, but also of conflict, and as a major concern in humanitarian action.

With ICRC support, the capital of North Kivu has, for the first time in its history, adopted a plan to develop a drinking-water network for all residents. If it is implemented, it will ensure over 740,000 people access to a sufficient supply of clean water. Marc Suchet, head of the ICRC's water and sanitation programme in North Kivu, explains why a comprehensive long-term plan is better than a series of emergency projects.

The lack of a reliable water supply is, for some communities, the result of isolation and poverty. Armed conflict can also limit people’s access to water. Honduras Motilona is a settlement in north-eastern Colombia, an area that has been severely affected by the conflict. Here, in 2008, the ICRC worked with the community and the local authorities to build an aqueduct. Paola Ximena Cárdenas, ICRC water and habitat specialist, describes the project in more detail.

The hills of this small central African country are rich with the blue gold sorely lacking elsewhere on the continent. And yet too many people are still deprived of drinking water. An interview with Filipa Anacoreta, coordinator of the ICRC’s “WatHab” (water and habitat) programmes in Burundi.

ICRC water engineer Johannes Bruwer is just back from a 14-month assignment in Sa'ada, Yemen. He explains why access to safe water is crucial to Yemenis affected by the conflict and how the ICRC has responded to some of the most urgent needs.

In the field

The dire economic situation, compounded by the political violence in Zimbabwe in 2008, has left many people increasingly vulnerable. This is an overview of the ICRC’s main activities in Zimbabwe since the beginning of 2009.

Some 2.5 million people have fled the fighting in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan since early May. They are staying with host families or in camps outside areas directly affected by the fighting, often with extremely limited access to clean water, electricity, medical care and communications.

Photographs illustrating some of the projects carried out by the ICRC to ensure that victims of armed conflict or other violence have sufficient access to clean drinking water and sanitary facilities.

Photos illustrating the ICRC's work to ensure that the victims of conflict have adequate access to water and sanitation.

Instant hotels, Finnish saunas and coconut leaves are part of the story of how National Societies shelter people hit by tragedy. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 2, 2008

While the situation is gradually returning to normal in Chechnya, an ICRC worker gives an account of his return to the Vedeno area, a place he enjoyed in his youth. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 3, 2007

In many parts of the world people take it for granted that they can turn on a tap or flush a toilet. But more than 1 billion people have little choice but to drink from potentially harmful sources of water.. Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 2, 2007

Article published in the Red Cross Red Crescent Magazine, No 1, 2007