WWD 2001 Event
Palestine - West bank Voluntary Maintenance Campaign
The Water resources available to the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza strip are very scarce, with an average national per capita consumption the lowest in the world. The demand for water is growing rapidly in Palestine and the situation is deteriorated since Israel still exercises almost total control over the water resources and is considered the major consumer of the water resource base.
For so many political, natural and social reasons, water problems are increasing, one of the problems is the deteriorating condition of existing water distribution networks. This results in the loss of water through leakage, as well as, in serious health hazards due to the seepage of sewage into the network. Researches and studies have demonstrated the relationship between this and the occurrence of diseases such as: Escherichia Coil, Entamoeba, Gardia and Tricomonus, especially amongst the children in rural areas of the West Bank.
In light of the above mentioned, a voluntary maintenance campaign will be launched for 6 weeks as a pilot project from 18 February - 31 March 2001, in Hebron City in the south of Palestine.
The Project
Fifteen students (males and females) of the Palestine Polytechnic University divided into five groups accompanied with technical engineers provided with maintenance kits will volunteer to provide services to the communities of five locations in the city. Their task is to visit houses, some public institutes (hospitals, schools, clinics...) providing the following:
- check the pollution (samples of the water from different resources in the location, to be taken immediately to the lab to be examined).
- Check if there is any leakage and the resource of it
- Give advises to stake holders if anything needs to be repaired or fixed
- Repair and fix simple problems.
Why is this project:
At the campaign launch, a press Conference was held to present the findings, which accordingly the campaign will be expanded to reach more communities. The project is an attempt to involve the community in the process of identifying the problem and seeking the proper solutions. From previous experience with the community, house to house visits were very affective. In addition it's a very good practical experience and training to the students who will be involved in the campaign, since we consider youth the most important target group since they play two roles at a time, beneficiaries and instruments of change.
This campaign will be launched in the occasion of the WWD, every year we celebrate the Water Week, while the activities continue for longer time, and in March there are another three important occasions for the Palestinians which are:
- 8 March Woman's day
- 21 March Mother's day
- 30 Palestinian Land's Day
Culturally speaking, those items are very much related in the Palestinian Community.
The movement restriction we have and the current political situation in general is really tough and bad, I hope by 22 March we'll be able to do more, and anyway activities should continue, it's not a one day activity!
Contact
Reem Abdul Hadi
UNDP
E-mail: reem.abdul-hadi@undp.org