Water essential in COVID-19 response

In the midst of the current COVID-19 global pandemic, it is vital that people have adequate water; not only access to a supply of clean drinking water but also sufficient water flow to enable proper handwashing with soap.

“Water needs are critical right now, for maintaining hygiene, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, particularly inside the camps for internally displaced people in Rakhine State,” urges Kris Cahyanto, UNICEF Myanmar WASH Specialist. 

On the coast of Rakhine State at Ah Naeuk Ywe Village in Pauktaw, a boat is moored while workers make repairs to the 1,500-metre water pipeline propped on top of bamboo structures. 

When the system is running, water is pumped from boat storage tanks along the pipeline to water treatment plants inside Ah Naeuk Ywe camp for internally displaced people. Set up in 2012 following communal tensions in Rakhine State, the crowded IDP camp today houses 4,924 people.
 

For people in the camps, accessing water is difficult. They rely on rainwater harvesting ponds, but because of the limited capacity of these ponds, the dry season and pressure from the high camp population, the ponds have almost dried up. Groundwater sources are prohibitively expensive to access, due to the geology of the area. Carrying water to the camp by boat, known as ‘water boating’, is challenging, particularly during low tide when the boat cannot get alongside the dock on Ah Naeuk Ywe island.

UNICEF and Solidarites International are working to deliver and treat emergency drinking water for people inside the camp. Over 37,000 litres of water were transported by boat on the first day of this emergency response.

UNICEF Myanmar’s WASH activities in Rakhine State are supported by the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, the Government of Japan and UNOCHA’s Central Emergency Response Fund.