ReliefWeb

HIGHLIGHTS

• Access to clean water by millions is at risk
• Daily clashes continue amidst the ‘harvest ceasefire’
• Despite challenges, humanitarian actors continue to address critical needs
• Limited access to benefits
• Key strategies developed to improve coordination

Critical water supply systems interrupted

Hostilities continuously occur in variety of forms and scale near critical civilian infrastructure. Access to clean water by millions is at stake, as power lines, supply systems and pumping stations continue to be hit. Obsolete infrastructure and lack of systematic agreements between energy and water entities on both sides of the ‘contact line’ further exacerbate the situation. The heaviest impact of these water cuts falls on the most vulnerable. A single incident of shelling of a Pumping Station of the South Donbas Water Pipeline reported on 11 June cut access to water for some 400,000 people for more than five days and indirectly affected some 700,000 people. To scale up the response to this critical humanitarian situation, the Ukrainian Ministry of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs (MTOT) called an urgent meeting with partners, while Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (USG) issued a statement calling for immediate cease in hostilities targeting civilian infrastructure. Partners delivered water through water trucking and performed rapid repairs of the damaged infrastructure, however these solutions are temporary, while disruptions continue to be recurring amidst active conflict.

Overall, in June, WASH Cluster recorded at least 12 cases of disruption of access to water in Donetsk and Luhansk provinces on both sides of the ‘contact line’ due to multiple reasons. Although the statistics show a 20 per cent decrease comparing to the previous month, number of people affected by a single incident at any given time reaches thousands, which is of alarming concern. The Cluster has recorded that at least 3 million people have been affected by water cuts since the start of 2017.

Disruption of operations, caused by continuous shelling and damage of the infrastructure results in regular wastewater discharge posing a great environmental and health threat. All-encompassing impact of shelling near the civilian infrastructure by parties to the conflict continues to be witnessed.
Humanitarian community continues to call for both parties to the conflict to adhere to the International Humanitarian Law (IHL), humanitarian and human rights principles and to respect the civilian nature of critical infrastructure.