WAAD (Water Access and Development) Consortium will provide 200,000 people improved access to clean water
Beirut, November 16, 2018. The EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis 'MADAD' is providing its support to the Water and Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector across Lebanon by awarding WAAD (Water Access and Development) consortium a fund of about 8million USD to improve water and wastewater services across Lebanon The consortium is comprised of three international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (INGOs), ACTED, Action Against Hunger and INTERSOS, which have significant experience in implementing WASH interventions in Lebanon.
Lebanon’s stressed water sector is a result of decades of under-investment policies, withering infrastructure, local population growth, and the drastic influx of displaced Syrians, which has resulted in a 30% increase in the number of individuals’ in-country who require access to safe water. With the aim of ensuring humanitarian assistance, sustaining development and the fostering of social cohesion, the EU Regional Trust Fund ‘MADAD’ has provided funding to the sector in order to alleviate Lebanon’s water matters and ensure that both local and displaced populations are able to respond to their basic human needs.
WAAD is tasked with providing Lebanese communities hosting Syrian refugees with improved WASH infrastructure and facilities at community and institutional levels. All three INGO’s were present in Lebanon in 2006 and returned to the country to support Lebanon’s Crisis Response Plans (LCRP) in the sectors of WASH, Shelter, Protection, Health, Education, and Environment. In line with LCRP’s objective of increasing the number of people in Lebanon who are accessing sufficient safe water for drinking and domestic use and who have an increased knowledge of hygiene practices, WAAD’s 25 infrastructure interventions will take place in Akkar, Bekaa, North, Mount Lebanon, South and Nabatieh governorates and will benefit around 200,000 people with improved access to water.
In parallel, WAAD partners will support the Bekaa, North and South Lebanon Water Establishments with capacity building programs, and implement institutional interventions to improve WASH services in 19 schools, five health centers, and six detention centers. Through various awareness sessions and events, the project will aim to highlight the importance of messages revolving around water conservation, water pollution, illegal connections and subscriptions in order to impact behavior, promote sustainability, and activate members of the community.
EU MADAD Trust Fund is supporting more than 23 projects in Lebanon in different sectors including basic education, livelihood and local development, higher and further education, health services, protection and water and sanitation. Specifically for the Water and Sanitation Services EUTF is actually financing 4 different interventions around the Country to improve access to services for Lebanese communities and Syrian Refugees.
For further information or to request an interview contact:
Action Against Hunger Lamis Flaha +961 35-03 568 lflaha@lb.acfspain.org
INTERSOS Tania Tarraf +961 76-783370 Deputy.swm.lebanon@intersos.org
ACTED Ciara Noone +961 76-315 277 Ciara.noone@acted.org
EU Regional Trust Fund Michele Pierpaoli - Attaché – Water & Wastewater Affairs - Economy and Local Development Section Email: michele.pierpaoli@eeas.europa.eu
