UAE Water Aid campaign kicks off

The UAE aims to help prevent deaths caused by unsafe drinking water through a nationwide campaign called the UAE Water Aid (UAE Suquia) launched on Saturday.

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, launched the campaign coinciding with Ramadan to give more than five million people worldwide access to fresh drinking water.

Emirates Red Crescent will implement the project in areas badly in need of water so they can have their own wells, water pumps, and water purification equipment.

“We are determined to plant a seed of goodness in every place around the world, as the legacy of the UAE to humanity,” Shaikh Mohammad tweeted about the campaign last week.
“Charitable initiatives during Ramadan remind us that the UAE was built upon the eternal principle of doing good in the world,” his other tweet read.

Preparatory work for the digging of wells started on Saturday in 10 countries, namely, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Niger, Somalia, Ghana, Sudan, Indonesia, Togo, and Iraq, according to Mohammad Abdullah Al Haj Al Zarouni, head of the Emirates Red Crescent’s Dubai branch.

“This is just part of the initial phase of the campaign. Work is expected to be completed within 15 days,” Al Zarouni told Gulf News.

“We also started digging four big wells in Arbil in Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, that will provide water to 100,000 people. This is very important to help the refugees that are coming to the area.”

Al Zarouni declined to give a total target amount for the campaign since costs to dig wells and provide fresh drinking water vary from country to country, ranging from Dh5,000 to Dh130,000 each. But he estimated that an average well that could help 4,000 people would cost about Dh25,000.

“The cost varies since in some places the water table could be very deep. What is important is anyone in the UAE who wants to help can [start with] Dh25,” Al Zarouni said.

Many government and private sector organisations will work together to ensure the success of the campaign.

Telecommunication giants etisalat and du each donated Dh2.5 million on Saturday that will provide drinking water to a total of 200,000 people. Etisalat said it will encourage its subscribers to donate to the campaign by sending them text messages on how to help.

Al Ansari Exchange on Saturday also pledged its strong support to the campaign by donating Dh1 million.

Al Zarouni said apart from digging wells in villages that badly need water, tanks will also be installed to collect water in places where water is readily available but is not collected properly. The campaign will also install pipelines in villages to distribute water efficiently.

Most importantly, water treatment plants will be built during the last phase of the campaign.

Al Zarouni said Masdar will also help install solar panels to harness energy in areas where there is no electricity in order to operate the water pumps and treatment plants.

Some 748 million people or nine per cent of the global population continue to rely on unimproved drinking water sources according to a UN report called ‘Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation 2014 Update’. The same report stated more than one-third of the global population – some 2.5 billion people — do not use an improved sanitation facility.

Between 2009 and 2013, the UAE’s total foreign aid related to water problems totalled Dh1.01 billion through various projects in 61 countries around the world, a report of the Ministry of Development and International Cooperation said. Gulf News