Access to safe water and sanitation

Syria: critical hygiene support for returning families 

Since December 2024, over 1,365,000 people have returned to Syria, many settling in displacement camps across the Aleppo and Idlib governorates. With urban infrastructure in cities like Deir ez-Zor decimated by years of conflict, returning families face extreme challenges in accessing basic necessities. 

In response, we partnered with the WATAN Foundation to deliver essential hygiene kits to 20,376 individuals across 20 camps in North-West Syria. These kits provide fundamental sanitary security, including soap, shampoo, and laundry detergent, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and towels, water containers, laundry basins, and baby wipes. 

Gaza: providing clean water 

In the Gaza Strip, the struggle for water dominates daily life for displaced families. In the Al Fakhoura shelter in Jabalia Refugee Camp, residents must survive on just 4 gallons of water per day for all their drinking, cooking, and cleaning needs. 

Through our ongoing cooperation with UNRWA, we are providing safe, clean water via truck deliveries to the 794 displaced individuals (166 families) residing in the shelter. This intervention ensures that even in overcrowded conditions, families have access to the most precious resource required for survival. 

Madagascar: climate resilience and water access 

Madagascar continues to face the harsh realities of the climate crisis, with shifting weather patterns leading to low crop productivity and severe water scarcity. For farming families, the lack of rain threatens both their livelihoods and their health. 

To combat this, we have constructed wells in 11 different locations, providing consistent water access. This initiative supports education and health by ensuring children and their families no longer have to struggle for basic hydration and hygiene. 

South Sudan: empowering communities & emergency relief 

The humanitarian situation on the Sudan-South Sudan border remains critical, with over 1.2 million people seeking safety. We are addressing the water crisis there through two primary channels: 

1. Capacity building: we conducted hygiene promotion training for dozens of community members in Upper Nile state. Participants were equipped with vital skills in disease prevention, safe water handling, and sanitation practices to support both host communities and refugees. 

2. Emergency distribution: to alleviate tensions over limited resources, we purchased 2,200 hygiene kits for distribution in Renk and Manyo counties; 1 kit is estimated to last 1 month for a household of up to 6 people! Targeted at displaced persons and families of children suffering from malnutrition, each kit includes water treatment supplies (chlorine tablets, aluminum sulfate, filtration cloths) sufficient for 3 months, soap, buckets, and water containers. 

Links:

• https://www.pah.org.pl/en/