For more than ten years, the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has maintained a large-scale peacekeeping operation following years of civil war. The mission is unprecedented in its ever-evolving nature, due to challenges posed by the harsh desert conditions of West Sudan.
The lack of water is one of the biggest threats to peace in Darfur, posing risks of disease and heightened conflict for the vast numbers of internally displaced persons in the area – 2.6 million people, according to a 2017 report of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
UN Volunteer Abubakarr Bangura, from Sierra Leone, serves as a Water and Sanitation Technician and is stationed with UNAMID in El Fasher, North Darfur.
“My service allows me to directly address water and sanitation challenges affecting Darfur, including the effects of climate change and desertification,” said Abubakarr Bangura, UN Volunteer Water and Sanitation Technician in Darfur, Sudan
Ensuring access to water for the millions of IDPs in camps across Darfur is a monumental operation. Abubakarr helps providing 280,000 litres of drinking water to IDP communities each week, including organising the transport and logistics for water supply to prisons and schools.
Abubakarr’s also works to empower local communities. To this end, he provides environmental training to youth and women from local camps, equipping them with techniques for small-scale residential composting and waste management. He also carries out community outreach projects that provide tree planting and environmental training to residents.
The UNAMID facility in El Fasher houses thousands of UN staff and peacekeeping forces. Another of Abubakar’s key responsibilities is to reduce is the impact on such a fragile environment.
UNAMID operates the only modern wastewater treatment facility in the country that treats 478,000 litres of wastewater each week. The treatment is carried out using clean bacterial agents, in an environmentally-sustainable manner.
“Any toxic waste generated by UNAMID could negatively affect the surrounding communities, so we make sure to treat our waste water in the right way. Someday, we will hand over these premises to Sudanese officials, so we want to leave them a clean and healthy facility,” he explains.
Original source: UN Volunteers
Published on 19 November 2018
