ActionAid Palestine to Demand Fair Distribution in Palestine on the Occasion of International Water Day
Hebron -West Bank-ActionAid Palestine (AAP) celebrated the International Water Day by demanding fair distribution of water in Occupied Palestinian Territory(oPt). AAP also demanded the international community to pay attention to the water crisis in Palestine including the polluted water in Gaza Strip. International Water Day falls on 22nd of March each year. It is an annual United Nations Observance, started in 1993, that celebrates water and raises awareness of the 2 billion people currently living without access to safe water. A core focus of World Water Day is to inspire action towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
“Making the Invisible Visible” is the theme of World Water Day 2022 focusing on importance of groundwater. Groundwater is being over-used in many areas and where more water is abstracted from aquifers.
The percentage of the exploitation of surface and groundwater from available water during 2020 was high with an average of 79%, according to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
Palestine suffers from water crisis as other countries in the world, while Israeli occupation exacerbates this crisis as it controls water oPt and denies millions of Palestinians to enjoy their right to water or deprive millions of the Palestinians of enjoying water, or even of disposing of the minimum of their natural right to it. This right is supposed to be guaranteed by international conventions, human rights organizations and peace agreements, but the Israeli practices imped Palestinians from utilizing their natural resources specially water. With scarce water and Israeli restrictions on access to resources, Palestinians are forced to purchase water from the Israeli water company Mekorot. In 2020, they purchased 90.3 MCM, which represented 20% of the water available in Palestine (448.4 MCM). Additionally, 53.3 MCM of the water were produced from the Palestinian springs while 299.1 MCM are pumped from groundwater wells and 5.7 MCM desalinated drinking water, representing 1% of the available water.
As for water available to Palestinians that is unsuitable for human use due to the quantities of polluted water in the Gaza Strip, it reached 201.8 MCM, whereas the quantities of water suitable for domestic use available to the Palestinians are only 246.6 MCM.
It is worth mentioning that the average Palestinian water consumption per capita is still less than the minimum recommended level globally according to the standards of the World Health Organization, which is 100 liters per day, due to the Israeli control over Palestinian water resources. The daily allocation per capita from consumed water for domestic purposes is 84.2 liter/capita/day in Palestine: 82.4 (l/c/d) in the West Bank, while it is 86.6 (l/c/d) in Gaza Strip in 2020.
Background Information
ActionAid in Palestine (AAP) is a part of global federation working for social justice and gender equality and eradicate poverty in more than 45 countries around the world. AAP started its work in Palestine in 2007 to strengthen the resilience of Palestinian People as ActionAid believes that they should enjoy their rights to freedom, justice and self-determination. AAP implements a number of programs through its engagement with communities and women and youth groups seeking to empower them and enhance their influential civil and political participation to understand their rights and undertake collective activism to address the protracted rights violations resulting from the prolonged occupation of Palestine. AAP works simultaneously to enhance their leadership capacity and knowledge to practice their citizenship in holding authorities and other duty bearers to account.
For more information, please contact
Riham Jafari
Coordinator of Advocacy and Communication in Palestine
Mobile:
+972 (0) 595242890
Office:
+972 (0) (2) 22 13 137
Email:
