“We won’t need to beg for water anymore”

Thanks to a project by the International Labour Organization (ILO), funded by the Japan Government, which employed local people to build waterworks, Yasin Muhumad Faarah now has a reliable, resilient water supply in his village in Jigjiga, Somali region, Ethiopia.

“In a recent drought all my cattle died. I depend on farming to provide for my family,” said Yasin. “They [ILO] told us that they were proposing to build a basin [small reservoir] to collect rainwater. When I heard this, I offered my farmland to them.”

This activity in Yasin’s community was part of the Japan Government-funded ILO project: Enhancing Disaster Resilience through Employment-Intensive Waterworks. The project aims to reduce flooding, retain water for agriculture and domestic usage, and train and employ local people.

“The people running the project also gave us good job opportunities,” Yasin explained. “In total 41 members of the community benefitted from the project to build the basin. No one got refused. Everyone got paid.”

“Now that I can easily access the water for the farm, I want to expand and grow more crops. This will allow me to send my children to the city to get a better education. 

“There is nothing that we fear now, we are safe. We used to beg for water from the city, but now that we have the basin we won’t need to beg for water anymore.”