World Water Day:
Bringing safe drinking water closer to conflict-affected families in
Misamis Oriental
|
Ishfaq
Muhammad Khan (third from right), head of ICRC’s Butuan
office, joined residents, officials from the local
government unit and PRC volunteers during the handover of
Alagatan’s new water system. (Photo by M. Lucero /ICRC) |
By
ICRC
March 20, 2024
MAKATI CITY – For
years, the people of Barangay Alagatan in Gingoog City, Misamis
Oriental, have had a difficult time getting clean drinking water.
Their situation worsened in 2022, when an armed conflict prevented
them from going to the nearest spring, their only source of safe
water. However, a newly completed water supply system, one that the
residents have built themselves, is set to improve their standard of
living.
The new water supply
system, built by the villagers through a cash-for-work program, was
a project implemented by the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) in coordination with the local government. It was
unveiled on 7 March 2024 during a handover ceremony attended by
community members, local authorities and representatives of the ICRC
and its partner, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC).
ICRC engineers designed the system, supplied the materials and
equipment, and provided technical support to the construction works.
Approximately 700 people will benefit from the project, and the
system provides water to the barangay office, elementary school, and
health centre.
The completion of the
water system comes just around World Water Day on 24 March 2024.
Commemorated annually, World Water Day aims to raise awareness about
the billions of people around the world who do not have access to
clean and safe water.
“People in remote areas
are at a higher risk of getting life-threatening diseases if they do
not have access to clean water. Having a reliable water system
improves a community’s hygiene standards, and it also helps them
sustain their livelihoods. This project, completed just a few weeks
before World Water Day, is a step toward the improvement of living
conditions in Alagatan,” said Ishfaq Muhammad Khan, head of the
ICRC’s Butuan office.
Almost 85 residents
started constructing the water system in September 2023. They
installed a five-kilometer pipeline, five storage tanks and 19 water
faucets.
On 5 March 2024, a hygiene
promotion activity was done by the PRC for the residents.
The ICRC is a neutral,
impartial and independent organization with an exclusively
humanitarian mandate that stems from the Geneva Conventions of 1949.
It helps people around the world affected by armed conflict and
other violence, doing everything it can to protect their lives and
dignity and to relieve their suffering, often alongside its Red
Cross and Red Crescent partners.
