POUL DUE JENSEN FOUNDATION WATER UNHCR is the gatekeeper In a refugee camp, UNHCR decides who gets in and out. They and other aid organisations bring in funding from the donors, then various aid agencies are then engaged to take care of the provisions for the refugees. Water Mission’s Regional Director in Tanzania, Will Furlong, explains that Water Mission’s engagement in the Nyarugusu camp began in 2015, when thousands of Burundians started to arrive in the camp, and the urgency to create a new Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure became evident. The initial water project was delivered in collaboration with one of the aid agencies operating the camp. “UNHCR and the aid agencies were scrambling to implement infrastructure. We reached out to UNICEF in Dar es-Salaam to see if they needed help, and the immediate response was: ‘Yes, be at my office at 8 o’clock tomorrow morning’. So, out of that came a partnership between UNICEF and Water Mission to provide safe water for 30,000 of the Burundian refugees in that undeveloped zone,” he says. Successful intervention opened the door With a green light from UNICEF, Water Mission set to action and airfreighted in 10 water filtration systems along with pumps, generators, and other equipment necessary to power those systems. They purchased eight kilometres of pipe and materials for 22 tap locations, 11 10-cubic-metre storage tanks and built everything in about two weeks. “We had a good reception from UNICEF and UNHCR based on this successful intervention. The water was clear, disinfected, and safe to drink. We gained a reputation of excellence and best-in-class engineering – and being easy to work with,” Will Furlong says. The intervention in 2015 was for 30,000 people, but the demand was a lot bigger, and another issue had become very obvious: All of the water sources in the camp at the time were powered by expensive, polluting diesel generators. “The operation and providing of fuel in all of East Africa is particularly problematic due to poor availability, diesel quality, and fuel theft. UNHCR was spending millions of dollars on the power sources in the three refugee camps,” Will Furlong explains. Going solar with financial backing from the Foundation The 2015 intervention helped establish Water Mission as an organisation driven by high standards and values, delivering high-quality, best-in-class results. When the funding started to decrease because the donors had turned their attention to other crises, Water Mission brought up the idea with the stakeholders to build a 100 per cent solar-powered safe water infrastructure for over 250,000 people in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp and two other camps nearby. “UNHCR has a long-term vision to increase the use of solar. We fit well within that desire, it means millions of dollars of savings to them, and it means that more people receive more water. NRC was also delighted: If 100 per cent of the water that people are drinking is safe, it translates directly into improved health and saving lives,” says Will Furlong. “The operation and providing of fuel in all of East Africa is particularly problematic due to poor availability, diesel quality, and fuel theft. - Will Furlong Getting the Foundation on board was the easiest part, he explains: “The Foundation asked: ’What will it take to replace all those power sources with solar?’ We gave a proposal and the Foundation accepted it, I think it was 5.3 million USD.” Bringing in funding from outside the UNHCR system, however, meant that the project would have to be agreed 14
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