Guiding principles to support access to water for conflict affected people in Yemen

Rationale

Due to the recent crisis, fuel has almost completely stopped coming in the country. This affects daily operation of water supply systems, both urban and rural, as well as (private) water trucking services.Banking systems are collapsing and people are no longer receiving their salaries, making it difficult for people to pay their water bills, buy fuel to run the village water pumps, or buy water from private vendors. Lack of salaries also affects government staff responsible to run water and sewage systems. This situation is aggravated by the security risks, preventing people from paying bills, accessing fuel and water.

Estimations so far indicate that 10 cities in Yemen are in need of around 1 million litres of fuel every month with a value of around 750,000 USD (considering 150YR/l), affecting around 3.3 million people if fuel will not be made available shortly. In addition, around a third of the population depends on motorized rural water supply systems, which are decreasing or even stopping their operations due to lack of fuel.

Displaced people due to the conflict are most vulnerable and are either depending on unsafe water sources or existing water points available in the host community, pressuring these sources further.

This document hopes to provide guiding principles to WASH humanitarian actors responding to this crisis in Yemen, taking into account the diverse and immense needs.

Needs

The needs can be categorized into five groups:

  1. People depending on urban water supply systems (household connection)
  2. People depending on motorized rural water supply schemes
  3. People depending on water trucking
  4. Displaced people living in the open, public facilities or host communities
  5. Health facilities

Guiding principles

  • In case needs are bigger than availability of resources (financial, human), support for water supply in health facilities and safe drinking water is a first priority.
  • Support should find the right balance between reaching large numbers (cities) and including the most vulnerable (such as IDPs, rural population and people depending on water trucking).
  • Any fuel support should be accompanied by advocacy, demanding fuel to enter into the country and prioritizing fuel for water supply.
  • Any fuel support or water trucking activity should have a clear monitoring plan and follow up.
  • Exit mechanisms should be in place, such as agreed upon triggers that determine when the support will stop.
  • Support should be committed for short periods only. Extension can be done after reviewing the situation, following these guiding principles.

Strategizing support to reach the five groups mentioned above is needed and should follow the principles above.

Urban water supply systems

  • Supporting fuel to operate urban water supply systems should only be considered if:
  • at least a substantial percentage of the population of the city is connected to the system
  • the system would under normal circumstances operate at least once a week
  • local water cooperation is functioning and is able to maintain the network (can be through support of other WASH stakeholders)
  • Support should be prioritized for ‘hot’ (climate) locations.
  • Drinking water is a first priority. Support with fuel should not go beyond provision of 15 l/p/d and calculations on minimum pumping hrs should be obtained from local water cooperations.
  • A combination of providing fuel to operate the system and setting up water distribution points to reach those without a connection is recommended. In this case, local water cooperations are responsible to set up and manage the water points.
  • Water should always be chlorinated, both piped water and water distributed through water points. If needed, the local water cooperation should be supported with water treatment chemicals. Water distribution should be accompanied by messages around water treatment and safe water storage.
  • Support should stop or be reduced if fuel / electricity becomes available again.

Rural water supply

  • Support to rural water supply systems is logistically much more difficult to implement and monitor. The two main interventions include supporting individual projects with fuel or water treatment/hygiene promotion support. The cluster has recognized the validity of both strategies.
  • Rural water projects that cannot be supported with fuel should prioritize other activities such as water treatment including at household level and complementary hygiene promotion messages to ensure water is being safely treated, especially if from alternate sources, and stored.
  • If motorized rural water supply systems are out of fuel/electricity, support can be considered such as providing jerry cans of fuel to run the system for the minimum required time to reach sphere standards. This should be done in small amounts (daily-weekly) and should be closely monitored.
  • Water should always be chlorinated. If needed, the water council should be supported with water treatment chemicals and training on testing and treatment, which should be accompanied by messages around water treatment and safe water storage.
  • Support should stop or be reduced if fuel / electricity becomes available again.

Water trucking (private vendors)

  • Water trucking to households should be avoided. Instead, water points could be set up in public locations, such as mosques and schools, using existing storage capacity as much as possible. The local water cooperation or authority should take responsibility. If not, this should be implemented by a humanitarian partner.
  • Water should always be chlorinated. If needed, water treatment chemicals should be provided. Water distribution should be accompanied by messages around water treatment and safe water storage.
  • Support should stop if fuel becomes available again, to avoid any market disturbance.
  • In cases where private water vendors are operating, but (low income) households are not able to access water due to high cost, other options such as vouchers should be explored.

IDPs

  • Priority should be given to the most vulnerable IDPs, including those without shelter and residing in the open, schools, other public facilities, etc.
  • Water trucking should always be last resort and only considered as a short term option.
  • In case IDPs are close to existing source, the possibility of a new extension / connection to the source should be discussed with host community and prioritized over water trucking.
  • In case of recognized IDP camps, the development of new water sources should be considered if no existing sources are available.
  • Existing facilities such as schools and mosques should be used for distributing water as much as possible, instead of setting up new distribution points.
  • Voucher systems can be considered for monitoring and equity purposes.

Health Facilities

  • The responsibility for water supply in health facilities is under the Health Cluster (WHO) and therefore, any intervention should be according to their strategy and prioritization.