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The struggle to provide safe water in Haiti

In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, shortage of clean water is emerging as the new focus of the disaster relief. In a country where people already had serious difficulties accessing safe water and sanitation, it is extremely challenging to provide these basic needs after the disaster on January 12. A vast range of organisations are struggling to provide earthquake survivors with water and to prevent the spread of waterborne disease.

When large numbers of people suddenly come together in densely populated areas, there is a higher risk of transmitting diseases. Organisations struggle to ensure waste is collected, to keep these areas as clean as possible.

Among the many organisations providing help, the ICRC set up a daily water supply by trucking water into three locations in Port-au-Prince. On January 19, the number of people receiving safe water daily through this operation reached 12,000. Action against Hunger (ACF) installed water points in the badly damaged Champ de Mars and Canape-Vert neighbourhoods of Port-au-Prince, which are providing clean water to 30,000 people, and set up emergency water distributions in the capital’s Croix de Pres district and at the national stadium. Oxfam International arranges daily water trucks, and cash-for-work programs where Oxfam has recently installed clean water and latrines. Access to safe water and sanitation in emergency situations such as this can take on life-and-death importance – because diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases are major killers of young children under five. For UNICEF, water, sanitation and hygiene are a major focus of its response to the children’s emergency in and around the Haitian earthquake zone. As of January 29, the agency and its partners are providing safe water to more than 400,000 quake survivors in all.

The right to drinking water and safe sanitation is part of the Conventions of the Rights of the Child, CRC as well as the women’s convention CEDAW.