The people of Yemen, a country devastated by conflict, struggle with the lack of access to sanitation services and clean water, also known as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services (WASH). According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), more than 16 million Yemenis urgently need WASH services.

One of the main factors that increase the need for WASH services in Yemen is displacement as a result of conflict, natural disasters and epidemic outbreaks. Another factor is the disruption of public services in Yemen, which left only one-third of the Yemen population connected to a piped water network. Therefore, countries and international organizations have been working together to provide and facilitate access to WASH services.

Saudi Arabia-WHO WASH Services in Yemen

On July 30, 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSRelief), Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian aid agency, announced a $3.75 million project to enhance WASH services in Yemen to help the most vulnerable populations across the country.

The project will upgrade WASH infrastructure in two hospitals, enabling 10 health facilities to sustain water and water services in 60 other facilities. An estimated 580,231 internally displaced people and vulnerable groups will benefit from this project, which will also improve maternal health and disease prevention. This project aligns with the United Nations’ (U.N.) “Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan 2024,” which seeks to provide more relief and assistance to vulnerable groups in Yemen.

KSRelief’s Efforts to Support WASH Services in Yemen

Before the announcement of this joint project with WHO, Saudi Arabia provided support for enhancing WASH services in Yemen. On December 22, 2023, KSRelief pumped more than 39 million liters of water for the people in the Hajjah and Sa’adah governorates in Yemen to support WASH services in the country. In Hajjah, 3.443 million liters of the 39 million liters were used as potable water and 35.013 million were used as usable water.

Furthermore, in Hajjah, KSRelief provided 308 waste transportation services and conducted nine insecticide spraying campaigns. In Sa’adah, 300,000 liters of water were used as both portable and usable water, benefiting 30,100 people. Although these efforts were large in scale, Saudi Arabia also required collaboration with international organizations with the resources to expand its support for WASH services.

International Organizations’ Key Role in WASH Services

Enhancing WASH services in Yemen requires the collective power of international humanitarian organizations such as WHO and UNICEF, which have a record of facilitating Yemenis’ access to WASH services. For example, in 2021, UNICEF managed to help primary health care facilities (PHCF) and schools in Yemen rehabilitate and upgrade their water and sanitation systems with funding from the World Bank. The total number of PHCFs supported was 496 and the number of schools supported was 118 as of October 2021.

Similarly, from 2017-2021, the WHO conducted WASH rehabilitation in 70 hospitals across Yemen and provided 1,100 million liters of chlorinated water to 42 governorate hospitals, district hospitals and inner-district hospitals. All of this has benefitted 5.5 million Yemenis, highlighting the necessity for countries to work with international organizations to provide greater access to WASH services to more vulnerable individuals.

Access to Water and Hygiene Services

Enhancing WASH services in Yemen is important because it helps prevent global disease outbreaks, given the existing epidemics in Yemen, such as Cholera. Therefore, seeing countries like Saudi Arabia and organizations such as WHO work together on large-scale projects aimed at rehabilitating and facilitating access to WASH services is proof that there are good people to protect public health globally. However, given the numerous issues in Yemen, more has to be done to support WASH services.

– Abdullah Dowaihy

Abdullah is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and focuses on Good News and Technology for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr