Residents of Deir Hassan, Rasafa and Idlib city in northern Idlib, Syria have increased access to safe and clean drinking water Welthungerhilfe (WHH) and Hand-in-Hand-for-Syria (HiH) will undertake a project together focusing on the rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure and services in northern Idlib, Syria in three particular localities, Deir Hassan (subdistrict of Dana), Rusafa (subdistrict of Saraqab) and the neighborhood of Jbara in the city of Idlib (subdistrict of Idlib). WHH will have overall responsibility as the leading partner organisation and manage the project from Gaziantep, Turkey, as well as having a small project-team inside Syria. HIH will be the implementing partner inside Syria in coordination with the local councils and the water-units attached to them.

The overall aim of the project is to increase the access to safe and clean drinking water for residents of Deir Hassan, Rasafa and Idlib city in northern Idlib, Syria, and hereby reduce the dependence on water trucking and build communal resilience in the face of the ongoing humanitarian crisis. In all three localities, the damage to the WASH infrastructure has increased the reliance of local population upon water trucking as an alternative source of water. This option is sub-optimal as it creates dependency on external sources and the water quality as well as the means of transporting is hygienically unreliable and can transmit water-borne diseases. Furthermore, trucked-in water, due to the lack of regulatory structures, can be subject to high price fluctuations. The existing baseline studies undertaken by HiH for all three localities provide the primary data on which the project activities will be based. The number of beneficiaries who will benefit from these rehabilitation works through access to cleaner and safer water for their daily needs approximates 39,000 including significant IDP communities that are currently resident in all three areas.

WHH/HiH will achieve the project objective by working towards 3 outcomes: 1. Water system networks are rehabilitated (Deir Hassan amp Jbara neighbourhood of Idlib city), 2. Water station is rehabilitated and made operational again (Rusafa, Idlib), 3. Local water councils are supported to organize and provide basic water services during the ongoing crisis situation (at Deir Hassan and Rusafa). This outcome involves capacity building through training, involvement in monitoring and assessments, as well as material support (fuel, stipends, tools, etc.)

In Rusafa structural repairs to the building, the generator room and toilet facilities will be undertaken to bringing the station back to operational status as it has been out of action for the past three years. The operating costs of this water station will also be covered for a period of 4 months. As the water should also supply two further villages, Selamin and Abu Khos, the direct beneficiaries of this activity amount to approximately 16,500 including a resident IDP community of 2,500.
In the town of Deir Hassan, the existing water network will be extended and rehabilitated to cope with the influx of IDPs arriving in the past year and a general urban expansion of the town’s eastern part. Approximately 9km of water pipe networks will be rehabilitated and the local water station’s operating costs will be covered for a period of four months. Direct beneficiaries of this activity will amount to approximately 17,500. This includes a large resident IDP position. In the neighborhood of Jebara in Idleb City, as in Deir Hassan, the existing water network will be similarly rehabilitated by replacing the existing pipe network. This would cover around 6.9km of water pipe networks. Direct beneficiaries of this activity amount to approximately 5,000.

WHH/HiH will, together with the local council structures and their water-units in the three localities, promote a tariff-based management system for the water structures. WHH/HiH will organise training-based capacity-building in the introduction and management of these systems. Training in water quality testing will also be provided.