How are We Going to Reach Areas of Disease Within the Camps?

As a result of the deteriorating health situation in the camps, there is an urgent need to re-emphasise the issue of hygiene. This comes in light of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, which is still a matter of fear for all people- especially the residents of the camps who reside in public, crowded and unsafe environments. WATAN decided to combat this with the introduction of new work, that requires immediate implementation in all burdened areas.

After conducting a technical evaluation of the camps, it was found that the presence of many families inside them. It has led to the presence of many masses of private and public bathrooms, and as a result there are many private technical pits, including public, closed and open ones, with the flow of water used from (kitchens and bathrooms) onto the roads, leading to the spread of many diseases, unpleasant odours and epidemics. In addition to this, there are large material costs that are consumed to extract drinking water and dispose of solid waste, empty septic tanks, and the difficulty of digging technical pits; because of the rocky nature of the land.

Based on this evidence, and in an effort for WATAN to limit the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases; It was proposed to implement water supply activities, solid waste removal, and technical sewage removal, in addition to carrying out awareness campaigns to promote personal hygiene, and implementing a sanitation project in a cluster of camps:

Apamia – Al Baraka – Saed – Shohada Aljonoob – Al Eis – Al Burj – Al Yamama – Al Saleem – Jabal al-Hoss – Ajyal – Al-abyad Alqadeem – Al-abyad Aljadeed – Najma – Wadi Al-Ain – Tajmi’ Al-Sahara – Al-Musa – Sher Maghar – Al-Maqlaa – Saqia – Al-Youssef.

In the following areas: Al-Dana – Kafr Lusin – Babsqa – Sarmada – Batbo – Hazano – Kafr Daryan – Termanin – Burj Al-Nimra.

The projects aims to alleviate the burdens of the beneficiaries and provide a safe, healthy and stable environment, in order to implement it within the following planned services:

1. Supplying sterilized water through tanks.
2. Removal of solid waste.
3. Withdrawal of technical fees.
4. Distributing baskets of personal hygiene boosters.
5. Periodic health awareness campaigns.
6. Distribution of garbage containers.
7. Building blocks of regular bathrooms for people with special needs.
8. Contracting workers to clean the bathroom blocks on a daily basis.
9. Paving of roads.
10. Implementation of sewage lines with fermentation pits, to convert water into water suitable for irrigation.

It is noteworthy that the project was launched at the beginning of this year, and here are the most important stages that it reached at the end of last June:

1. Continuing to provide the following daily services: water supply, draining septic tanks, solid waste removal and awareness campaigns.
2. Finishing the work of distributing 591 garbage containers to the targeted camps.
3. Finishing the work of distributing 524 water tanks, with a capacity of 1000 litres, installed on a concrete base, in order to help reach and maintain water points safely, and to ensure that the service reaches all beneficiaries, distributed among all the targeted camps.
4. Work is also underway to distribute hygiene baskets in the targeted camps; to promote the issue of personal hygiene for the 7843 families.
5. In the interest of cleanliness and continuing to provide all means that help to strengthen it, the work of the project to implement sewage networks was launched, with roads paved, and the construction of bathroom blocks within the targeted camps in the project, where the completion rates in the camps reached as follows:

 

• Starting work to provide sanitation services in the following camps: Al-Maqlaa – Al-Harsh – Al-Baraka – Al-Abyad, Kafr Karmin – Shohada Aljonoob with an achievement rate of 19.5%.
• Work is underway to provide road covering services with gravel in the camps: Al-Maqlaa – Al-Harsh – Al-Abyad Kafr Karmin – Jabal Al-Hoss – Saed – Al-Baraka – Southern Martyrs – Al-Najma – Wadi Al-Ain – Sher Maghar – Al-Musa – Al-Eis – Al-Burj with an achievement rate of 58.8%.
• Work is underway to implement blocks of bathrooms in all camps with a set number that aims to build 150 blocks of double bathrooms for males and females, and 20 blocks for people with special needs, with a completion rate of 37.1%.

It is noteworthy that the number of beneficiaries of this service has reached: 46, 087 individuals and 8,125 families, with the continuation of providing services until the end of the year 2021.

Thus, the financial burden is reduced, and the spread of epidemics and diseases is reduced, and work is still in progress. This is done as:

1. Enhancing the issue of personal hygiene, and eliminating the flow of water outside of domestic use to the streets, which leads to the formation of swamps containing a lot of dirt and diseases.
2. Take advantage of the water coming out of the technical pits to irrigate the neighbouring agricultural lands.
3. A decrease in the prevalence of diseases in the camps, as a result of removing the causes that lead to them, while ensuring the access of sterilized water to all families, thus alleviating their financial burdens.

The project is expected to contribute to the following good results:

1. Promoting personal hygiene by providing sterile water, removing waste, and reducing the spread of diseases and epidemics.
2. Supporting families with low incomes, widows and people with special needs, and alleviating the financial burden on families.
3. Educating the beneficiaries of the need to enhance personal hygiene through awareness campaigns.
4. Reducing the pressures experienced by the displaced and camp residents in light of the displacement situation they are experiencing, and the effects of the spread of the COVID 19 virus.
5. Safe disposal of solid waste in camps by transferring it to a special environment.
6. Supporting the camps’ infrastructure through maintenance, restoration and construction of bathroom blocks.
7. Establishing a sewage network that can be used in the future, to expand the network and accommodate a larger number of beneficiaries.
8. Finally, providing a safe, healthy and stable environment.