Qatar Red Crescent Society (QRCS) has dug 66 water wells in two provinces of Afghanistan As part of a water and sanitation project that serves up to 40,000 people in Kandahar, Helmand, Kabul, Nimruz and Farah.
At a total cost of $720,000, the one-year project is co-implemented by QRCS’s representation mission in Afghanistan, the Afghan Education and Aid Organisation, Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development and local community leaders in the target areas.
It is aimed at improving health conditions and the local population's lifestyle, reducing morbidity and health problems resulting from unclean water and lack of sanitation facilities, enhancing access to water for drinking and everyday use, upgrading sewage and toilet systems, and promoting public hygiene awareness and healthy practices, QRCS has said in a statement.

The project involves the following components: 

* Construction of 16 water wells with solar pumps at 16 schools across Kandahar, Helmand and Kabul, to secure clean water for 16,000 people, at a cost of $3,190 per well.
* Construction of 15 buildings, each containing six toilets, an ablution area and a sewage system at high-density schools in 15 locations of Kandahar and Helmand, at a cost of $15,815 per building.
* Construction of one building that comprises 20 toilets and 40 ablution areas at Dar-ul-Ulum in Bagrami district, Kabul province. The facility is planned to serve around 3,000 students and teachers, at a cost of $48,200.
* Construction of 66 drinking water wells with manual pumps for the benefit of 990 families in Farah and Nimruz, western Afghanistan, at a cost of $3,330 per well.
* Launch of water and sanitation awareness activities, targeting 16,000 school students and community members in 16 locations, at a cost of $16,000.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed with Afghan Red Crescent Society, QRCS has been operating in Afghanistan since 2014 through a representation mission that has implemented diverse health, water, sanitation and emergency response interventions for the victims of war and disaster, the statement notes.
Special focus is put on the most vulnerable groups, particularly in remote, inaccessible and war-affected regions, it adds.
Related Story