Ethiopia: ICRC restores access to clean water services
The ICRC is engaged in the construction of a water supply project aimed at helping people affected by inter-communal violence in Yaso town and its environs in Benishagul Gumuz region to get access to clean water services.
The project involves installation of a submersible pump, a water pipeline covering about 20 kilometers, construction of two reservoirs and a generator house.
The water supply project is designed to benefit more than 22,000 Internally Displaced People (IDPs), returnees and host communities living in the town and its environs
An excavation work in progress in Yaso town, Benishangul Gumuz region, 2020. Henok Birhanu/ICRC
Tamiru Gobena is a resident of Yaso town. "The influx of IDPs to the town during the ethnic violence that occurred in certain areas of Yaso district has resulted in the diminishing of the already scarce water resources existing in the town.Upon completion, the project will enable conflict-affected communities in the town and its environs to get access to clean water and sanitation services."
About 25 per cent of the construction of the project, launched in August 2020, has been completed. It is expected to be finalized in February 2021.
In Ethiopia, the ICRC works with local authorities to help people affected by ethnic violence and detainees get access to water and sanitation services through construction or maintenance or rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities.
