SOMALIA: KSrelief invests $5M for drinking water in response to drought
As a prelude to the African Climate Summit (ACW) which opened on September 4, 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya, the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) has committed $5 million for the resilience of communities affected by the drought in Somalia. The subsidy from the Saudi international organization will be used in particular to finance the construction of 24 high-flow water boreholes.
The funding agreement was signed on September 3, 2023 between Ahmed Al Baiz, the Deputy General Supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSrelief) for Operations and Programs, and officials of a Somali organization of the company civil society (OSC) whose identity has not been revealed. It was at the Center's headquarters in Riyadh, the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Under the agreement, KSrelief will commit $5 million to support efforts to provide clean water to drought-affected communities in Somalia. This natural phenomenon, exacerbated by global warming, dries up fresh water resources, thus reducing the quantity of m3 per inhabitant.
To reduce this imbalance between supply and demand, 24 electric water boreholes will be carried out in the East African country. Future installations will be powered by solar energy. “These high-volume underground water pumping stations will help Somalis by providing them with permanent and renewable sources of drinking water, while improving access to clean water for beneficiaries and their livestock,” says Abdullah Al Moallem, head of the Health and Environmental Aid department of KSrelief.
Drinking water for more than a million people
The project will also rehabilitate 20 water boreholes to support the new hydraulic installations. In addition, “a sanitation and hygiene education program will be organized for families in targeted areas and water resources management committees will be trained in well operation and maintenance systems” , insists Abdullah Al Moallem of KSrelief.
In addition to reducing the drinking water needs of more than a million people, the realization of this hydraulic project will help reduce the effects of drought in Somalia, particularly water stress.
KSrelief's new $5 million funding comes just a few months after the international organization implemented several projects valued at $190 million in the areas of health, water, sanitation and hygiene, emergency aid, food and prevention of malnutrition in this country located in the Horn of Africa.
