“Without water there is no life”

Sweat drips down 15-year-old Fatima’s forehead as she waits besides a line of empty water containers under the scorching sun.

She arrived early, but the queue was already long. Quietly, she joins other children and parents waiting for the water truck to arrive. 

“There has been no water here for days,” she says.

“We face many challenges getting water.”

Fatima and her family fled home in search for safety. They now live in an internally displaced people’s shelter alongside hundreds of other families. 

A few weeks ago, intensified drone attacks in Al Obeid damaged homes, markets, schools and water infrastructure. Nearly one million people continue to feel the impact, having already endured displacement and conflict and now facing growing insecurity, repeated attacks and increasing strain on the services they depend on to survive. 

The destruction disrupted water supply, leaving families struggling to access safe drinking water. Today, many spend hours under the scorching sun, queuing for water delivered by trucks into collapsible water bladders.

Children like Fatima live with the consequences every day.

Fatima lives with her parents and eight siblings. With such a large family, they need a great deal of water each day.  But often, they cannot collect enough to meet their basic needs.  

“Sometimes I wait from early morning until noon just to collect water, that is why I can only collect it once a day,” she says.

When the water arrives

The arrival of the water trucks is always met with relief.

Container by container, families move closer to their turn. Fatima carefully pushes her white jerry can forward, hoping there will still be enough water by the time she reaches the front of the line.

But sometimes, she arrives too late.

The water runs out before her turn, forcing her to walk more than one hour to the nearest alternative water source. 

Afraid to make the journey alone, she always asks her sister to come with her.

“We walk all the way to the Karima area to fetch water.”

“Our families worry about us when we go.” “One time, I was delayed until after sunset, and my brother had to come looking for us.”

The lack of safe water affects children like Fatima in many ways. Long journeys to collect water expose children, especially girls, to additional risks while taking valuable time away from learning, rest and simply being children.

The physical burden is also immense.

“I carry the water container on my head, and it is very heavy,” Fatima explains.

When Fatima finally returns home, every drop of water is used sparingly.

“The first thing we use water for is cooking.”

Washing clothes and other household chores are often delayed so the family can save enough water for drinking and preparing meals.

Restoring water at all costs

To help families affected by the water shortages, UNICEF and partners are trucking chlorinated water to displacement shelters, helping meet urgent water needs in Al Obeid, thanks to global humanitarian thematic funding. 

At the same time, efforts are underway to rehabilitate damaged water systems and solarize boreholes to increase water yields and provide more sustainable solutions.

“When the water trucks arrive, we feel happy, but when we see the long lines, we become discouraged.” 

Although Fatima and her family have endured many hardships since being displaced, the struggle to access water remains one of their greatest daily challenges.

“Without water there is no life,” Fatima whispers. 

For children like Fatima, whose lives have been turned upside down by the war, the daily search for water leaves little time for anything else. 

Today, her greatest hope is simple. 

“We want water to be available closer to us. We want to drink. We want to bathe. We want to eat.