Det er en kæmpeopgave at skaffe drikkevand til næsten halvdelen af Syriens befolkning og manglen på klor til vandrensning er akut. Men heldigvis er der nu penge til rådighed til at indlede en større international indsats for de mange ofre for konflikten.
DAMASCUS, 4 February 2013 (UN News Service): A large-scale operation is under way in Syria to secure safe water supplies for more than 10 million people – close to half the population, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said Monday, amid reports that the quality and quantity of water is continuing to deteriorate (forringes) with negative impacts for children’s health.
“This shipment is very timely as supplies of chlorine in Syria have fallen dangerously low, making access to safe water challenging for many families,” said Youssouf Abdel-Jelil, UNICEF Representative in Syria.
“This puts the population – and children especially – at high risk of contracting (pådrage sig) diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases.”
The first four trucks carrying 80 tons of sodium hypochlorite water chlorination (til klorinering af vand) supplies crossed the Jordanian border into Syria on Sunday, heading for Aleppo, Hama, Idleb and Homs.
Approximately 420.000 people – half of them children – need urgent humanitarian aid in Homs, UNICEF said last week, following a recent inter-agency mission to the country.
Over the coming weeks, UNICEF, in coordination with the technical department of the Ministry of Water Resources and the Syrian Aran Red Crescent, will deliver 1.000 tons of chlorine to cities and communities across all 14 governorates in Syria.
Også medicin og lægeudstyr på vej
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has co-signed an agreement with Saudi Arabia to provide 2,1 million US dollar worth of essential medicines, vaccines and medical equipment. As many as three million Syrians will benefit from the donation, which will cover a one-year period starting this month.
A shortage of medicines in Syria is becoming more critical, as is waste management and the availability of safe drinking water, WHO has said.
Poor hygiene is increasing the risk of infectious diseases such as lice (lus), hepatitis A (leverbetændelse) and leishmaniasis, a sore-causing disease transmitted by sandflies.
More than 60.000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in early 2011. Recent months have witnessed an escalation in the conflict, which has also left more than four million people in need of humanitarian assistance.
The international community has committed more than 1,5 billion dollar for humanitarian aid to Syrians.
Supporting reconstruction of critical infrastructure, such as water pumping stations, and providing essential relief supplies like medicines are among the top four priorities inside the country.
This comes along with helping people who have fled their homes and the communities hosting them and helping the poorest avoid total destitution (den yderste armod).
