Qatar Charity has implemented more than 12,000 water projects in 23 countries around the world, benefiting nearly 7mn people, from January 2020 until February this year.
Also, 358 water projects have been implemented domestically, benefiting nearly 70,000 people.
On World Water Day 2021, QC is celebrating its water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) achievements accomplished in many countries of the world. QC's WASH efforts were welcomed and appreciated by United Nations (UN) organisations, confirming its significant contribution to providing clean water around the world, Qatar Charity said in a statement.
QC’s WASH projects, implemented through its offices and field teams or in co-operation with its local and international partners, played an important role in limiting the spread of diseases and epidemics, and providing safe drinking water to the displaced living in camps.
‘Valuing Water’ is the theme of World Water Day 2021, which is an annual UN observance day celebrated to highlight the importance of freshwater, raises awareness of the global water crisis in support of the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
"As the theme of the World Water Day 2021 emphasises the tremendous value of water in our lives, health, education and economy, we must not water and manage this limited resource properly, because no one can live without it," the statement noted.
According to UN reports, 2.1bn people lack access to safe drinking water services, and 1 in 10 people in the world suffers from water scarcity.
The water crisis affects women disproportionately as they are often responsible for fetching water, which takes time away from work, school and caring for a family. The lack of water and sanitation locks women in a cycle of poverty.
Besides, children have a responsibility to bring water for their families, which causes them to move away from school and find no time to play.
Approximately 1mn people die annually from water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases, and every two minutes a child dies from a water-related disease.
“Time spent gathering water or seeking safe sanitation accounts for billions in lost economic opportunities. $260bn is lost globally each year due to lack of basic water and sanitation,” according to Water.org, a nonprofit organisation.
The WASH sector is one of QC’s main areas of work. It seeks to help communities in need obtain clean water throughout the year, bringing the safe water facilities to the doorstep of its beneficiaries or within their reach to protect them from water-related diseases.
In Bangladesh, 400 projects have been implemented at a cost of almost QR15mn, benefiting more than 2mn people. Also, in Pakistan, approximately 2,000 water projects have been implemented at a cost of about QR10mn, benefiting more than 363,000 people.
Qatar Charity has been keen to provide safe drinking water in Pakistan where it has implemented hand pump projects in Sindh and Baluchistan, in addition to providing water tanks. It has also installed water coolers in schools and government offices in Tando Muhammad Khan district. These projects are implemented in co-ordination with the official authorities of different provinces.
QC has completed the implementation of a long-term WASH project in Pakistan in partnership with Unicef.
Unicef water experts appreciated the role of Qatar Charity in providing safe drinking water, as Sabahat Umbrian, Unicef water expert, said QC has implemented a good-quality project.
QC has implemented a QR1mn WASH project, which is the latest one, in northern Syria in partnership with the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to provide emergency WASH services in squatter camps and health facilities.
Khaled al-Hussein, WASH officer in QC’s Turkey office, said during the past four years, Qatar Charity has implemented several projects, such as water station operation, water network expansion, water tank distribution in the camps, to support the water sector in northern Syria.
He added that work is currently under way to launch an integrated response project for the displaced and host communities to provide WASH services for them at cost of QR7mn.