6 cm water pipe for communities in Iraq

The so-called Islamic State (IS) had occupied numerous areas in Iraq. This included the Ninawa region in the north of the country, where the city of Mosul is located. Millions of people were forced to flee because of the war. Since spring 2017, more and more towns and villages have been recaptured and people are steadily returning to their homes. Ninawa has recorded the largest number of returnees, 1.7 million, who had sought protection in other regions or other countries in the meantime.

However, the violent liberation struggles largely destroyed the local infrastructure. Many of the people who returned found their homes and houses in ruins. They had no clean drinking water, the roads were no longer passable, and there was hardly any electricity. Whole villages still have to be supplied with clean water by truck and mobile treatment plants. This is not a sustainable solution and is also very costly. The result is that people often resort to contaminated water from rivers or saline water from shallow wells. This leads to illness and makes people dependent on external help. A functioning drinking water infrastructure is a basic requirement for even more people to return to their homeland and lead self-determined, dignified lives there.