Oxfam highlights need for water conservation

AMMAN — Oxfam has launched a new series of workshops on the occasion of World Water Day (WWD) to raise awareness among Syrian refugees living in Jordan, as well as vulnerable Jordanians in host communities, on the importance of water conservation.

In the first event on Sunday, more than 250 Syrians and Jordanians who live in Zarqa met with local environmental experts to discuss the reasons for the Kingdom’s water shortages and steps that can be taken to conserve water, according to an Oxfam statement. 

“Water is so precious here in Jordan where shortages are common each year and every drop counts. It is essential that Jordanians and Syrian refugees in rural and urban communities have access to adequate water and sanitation,” Oxfam Country Director in Jordan Geoffrey Poynter said. 

“The Syrian refugees here need help to better understand their new context, and the circumstances of their host country — especially given water shortages are something that directly affects their daily lives.”

The workshop also aimed to promote environment-friendly practices and encourage people not to waste water in order to help ease the pressure on local infrastructure.

Tips on how to save water included turning the taps off while users brush their teeth and wash their hands, taking fewer showers and using less water for laundry, the statement said.

Many of the Syrians come from towns and cities that had plentiful water supplies, but the situation in Jordan is different and several refugees are finding it hard to adapt to living in a new context with its own set of environmental issues, according to Oxfam.

“Back home in Syria, awareness campaigns to adopt water-rationing practices were almost nonexistent, while Jordan has been running a water awareness programme for its citizens for over 10 years now,” the statement quoted Hiba Abu Al Rob, Oxfam’s host communities’ public health engineers team leader, as saying.

“There is no room for waste — but life here is so different to the way it was in Syria so it takes time to get that message across.”

Professor Alsharifa Hind Mohammad from the University of Jordan spoke about the Kingdom’s severe water shortage owing to the lack of surface water resources and the meagre annual rainfall. 

She said the fact that Jordan has been a destination for many displaced families from neighbouring countries since 1948 has also put its water resources under almost continuous pressure. 

Children are also being taught about the importance of water and ways to conserve it, and an interactive story-telling session for refugee children was held as part of the workshop, the statement said.

Oxfam is currently operating in Jordan to extend humanitarian aid to people who most need it, as part of its response to the Syria crisis.

Oxfam has been delivering WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programmes since 2012 in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, as well as in host communities across the Kingdom, including Balqa, Zarqa, the Jordan Valley and Amman.

According to UNHCR, there are 51,757 Syrian refugees in Zarqa, making it the fourth largest refugee population in Jordan after Irbid (135,417), Amman (151,294) and Mafraq (174,847 refugees).