A rural Yemeni community’s journey to clean water access

Water scarcity remains a major concern for most Yemeni communities, particularly as the country struggles to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic while also in its sixth year of conflict. 

Residents of Nawkhan in Ataq district, Shabwah governorate, did not have a local clean water source like many rural villages and areas. 

said Ahmed Hussain, a 62-year-old retired civil servant and father. He worried each day about whether he would have enough water for his 25 family members, including his children and grandchildren. 

Ahmed and his neighbours in Nawkhan paid a lot of money for every drop of water they used — a tank of water (18,000-28,000 litres) could cost between 12,000 and 15,000 Yemeni rials ($50-$60), compared with other urban locations like Sana’a city, where a large tank costs around 6,500 rials. The only other option, particularly for people in the local community who could not afford water trucking, was to rely on seasonal rainfalls and attempt to collect and safely store rainwater.

Nawkhan’s water scarcity problems started decades ago. Houses in the area were connected to a public water network, pumping water from Ataq, which is around 26 km away. But when the civil war broke out in the 1990s, the water pipes were damaged. The water stopped pumping to Nawkhan and did not resume, leaving the local community in a dry area with no access to clean water.

Since then, farmers had to keep moving from one district to another, searching for desperately needed water for their cattle.

Around 10 years ago, a charity organization came to Nawkhan’s aid and dug a well in the village. But after almost five years, the project was still not complete. To speed up the process, locals created a community committee to collect money to install a motor, water pump and small tank to run the well.

Water was available in the area again, but families still had to pay for the well water to be trucked to their homes. 

Ahmed explained: “We are still COVID-19 free, but Ataq, the capital, is infected, and people from our village keep visiting the capital daily for their work and shopping. With no stable water source, we can’t protect ourselves from the virus.”

Supported by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) responded to Nawkhan’s needs and began reconstructing the local water system.

Ammar Mohammed, an IOM Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Field Engineer in Shabwah, explained: “The situation was very difficult. The people were not able to have safe and easy access to water because the well project was not fully completed. IOM’s intervention came to complete the old project components and to improve the water system so that water can reach houses directly.” 

Ammar also emphasized how clean water access will help the community’s fight against the spread of COVID-19.

The project is ongoing, with the installation of a submersible pump, a concrete tank and a main pipeline system that will deliver water from the well to the tank, and from the tank to the local water pipe network. Ahmed, his family and their more than 1,800 neighbours will finally have sustainable access to water in their homes.

Once the work is complete, the community committee is determined to develop a strategy to maintain the new water system. 

In collaboration with KSA, IOM has rehabilitation works ongoing in seven water sites across Shabwah governorate, which will give over 70,800 local community members access to clean water.