ICRC to increase efforts to supply clean water

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC) marked World Water Day on Thursday with a commitment to increasing its efforts to provide disaster victims with access to clean water and sanitation. “We are stepping up our efforts in this vital area because we see increasingly that poor water and sanitation pose the greatest threat to lives in the emergency phase of most disasters when there is a high risk of epidemics,” said Dr. Alvaro Bermejo, Head of the International Federation’s Health Department, in a statement. “World-wide, the International Federation provides impoverished communities with 20 million litres of water per day, benefitting some one million people in 30 programmes. However, a lot more needs to be done given that one billion people lack access to clean water and half the world’s population do not have adequate sanitation facilities. These are the people most likely to be victims of a disaster,” said Uli Jaspers, the agency’s senior water engineer. In the current flood crisis in southern Africa, water and sanitation activities were an essential element of the federation’s response, particularly in Malawi and Mozambique, the statement said. Red Cross regional water and sanitation co-ordinator, Robert Fraser, said: “For two years running we have been battling the floodwaters in Mozambique and this year we have had to bring in an emergency water purification unit with the support of the Swedish, German and Austrian Red Cross Societies, water and sanitation are key priorities for the Red Cross.”