In Baidoa, Somalia, water is a lifeline amid a raging drought
Clean and safe drinking water is essential for life. UNICEF has constructed nine water supply systems in Baidoa to provide water to communities in the area.
Baidoa, Somalia, 26th April 2023: Fatuma Maalim (49) steps out of her makeshift shelter in the blistering heat, clad in a blue scarf, dera, and a pair of old sandals. She apologizes for the noise from the children playing outside and quickly dives into the conversation. The subject is the water system that has been constructed at the Bodaan IDP camp.
The mother of nine children is newly arrived in the camp, having fled from Bakool a week before because of the severe drought.
“We were on the road for two days. We had lost everything. Life used to be easy when we had livestock and farms. We could sell the animals to buy what we needed. But with the drought, we ran out of water and pasture, and it was sad to see the livestock die right before our eyes. This drought has robbed us of our dignity.”
“Our only saving grace is that we will not have to worry about water because of the water point that has been constructed in this camp. Where there is no water, there is literally no life. But now, the water is nearer to my home and there is plenty of it. One less thing to worry about.”
Clean and safe drinking water is essential for life. The ongoing drought in Somalia has claimed 43,000 lives and decimated livestock. The widespread water shortages have forced people to use contaminated water, which, coupled with poor hygiene practices, has led to frequent outbreaks of acute watery diarrhea and cholera. Women and children mostly are on the receiving end of these outbreaks.
“Collecting water for cooking, drinking and other household needs used to take us a long time. We would spend hours every day travelling back and forth between home and the water sources and often that water was not clean and safe for human consumption. But now, I spend less than 10 minutes to fetch water. This is a much better and safer alternative,” says Fatuma.
The new water system benefits more than 900 households in the Bodan IDP camp alone. With funding from the European Union, UNICEF, in partnership with the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Southwest State, have constructed nine water supply systems in Baidoa including water kiosks. The water systems are managed by water committees set up to ensure that the investments are maintained. The water systems replace water trucking, which is expensive, unsustainable, and difficult to manage and monitor.
