When EU Humanitarian Aid, UNICEF water came to Kiryandongo

Not long ago, life in Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement was defined by scarcity. Getting clean water meant families waiting for rain, for water trucks, or walking for miles to fill jerrycans, queuing for hours, and returning home exhausted. But this October, that ended. With funding from the European Union Humanitarian Aid and implementation by UNICEF in partnership with the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), two new hybrid solar and diesel-powered water systems are now bringing clean, reliable water to thousands, restoring time, dignity, and hope.

What used to be a daily struggle has become a quiet revolution. Water now flows within walking distance for families who once spent half their day searching for it. The queues are shorter, and the laughter louder. This is the story of what happens when clean water reaches a community that had almost lost hope. 

In October 2025, the silver stand taps in Cluster A came alive. Each hot afternoon, children like 12-year-old Stephen Mabor race toward the sound of rushing water, their laughter echoing across the camp as they cup their hands to drink, splash their faces, and wash the dust from their legs, a simple joy made possible by clean, running water.

The everyday miracle

Habib Ahmad, 30, arrived at the settlement earlier this year (2025) from Sudan. “I used to spend an entire day walking for water,” he says. “Now, I just walk a few metres. It takes me 10 or 15 minutes, and I’m done. UNICEF and the donor (European Union Humanitarian Aid) has solved our water problem. People were really suffering, and you know, water is life.”

Water as dignity

Women like these no longer wake up before dawn to find water. Now it’s right in their vicinity. Across Kiryandongo, the change is visible. Clean water has reduced disease, improved hygiene, and freed women and children to spend more time at school, in gardens, and with family.
What once was a burden is now a rhythm — a steady, reliable flow that nourishes life.

The system behind the flow

At the edge of Cluster C, a soft hum rises from a new pump house. Inside, pipes, wires, and steel work together to bring water to the surface. “This system can run on both sunlight and diesel,” explains Eng. Isaac Bwire (Right), who supervised the installation. Solar panels do heavy lifting during the day, while a 30 KVA generator serves as backup when skies turn cloudy, ensuring clean water keeps flowing, rain or shine.

The reservoir on the hill

Water drawn from deep underground travels 2.6 kilometres to a 180-cubic-meter reservoir, then flows through 4.6 kilometres of distribution lines to reach 22 public standposts serving villages and settlements that once depended on unsafe sources.

The women who keep it flowing

For Olivia Ayebare, the WASH Officer at LWF, the transformation is both technical and human. “When the first refugees arrived in 2023, we relied on water trucking,” she recalls. “But trucking was costly and unreliable; sometimes roads broke down before the trucks did.”
Today, she says, water per capita in Kiryandongo has risen from nine liters to nearly 20 liters per person per day, meeting UNHCR standards. “Now, we have sustainability. The pipes never tire.”

The ripple effect

Funded by the European Union Humanitarian Aid, and implemented by UNICEF through the Lutheran World Federation, the new systems in Kiryandongo prove that lasting change begins with something as simple as a glass of clean water. Each drop is a story of survival, renewal, and dignity restored. And for the families of Kiryandongo, this water doesn’t just quench thirst, it sustains hope.