As part of the emergency response after the devastating effect of Hurricane Ian in western Cuba and particularly in the province of Pinar del Río, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the Office of The Resident Coordinator (OCR) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Cuba joined forces for the acquisition of a Kit Watsan No. 5 water treatment plant.
This mobile team will be transferred to Pinar del Río to meet the urgent water and sanitation needs of the population most affected by the passage of Hurricane Ian and will allow the country’s authorities to move it to carry up to 15,000 liters of treated water per day to the communities that need it most. This will facilitate access to safe water on a regular basis for many families.
The plant, which also has a kit of materials to promote hygiene habits and to meet the most urgent sanitation needs, was channeled in coordination with the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Investment (MINCEX) and the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources. (INRH).
Regarding this important contribution, Consuelo Vidal, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations System, expressed:
“The United Nations System will continue to redouble actions to help and reinforce the efforts of the Government of Cuba in the response to the emergency of Hurricane Ian and in recovery actions to improve the living conditions of the affected people, in particular, of the most vulnerable.”
This long-term, sustainable solution – the plant has a useful life of 20 years – supports the recovery efforts of affected communities and improves the country’s resilience to natural disasters.
About 3.2 million people in the provinces of Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Havana and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud were affected by the severe impact of Hurricane Ian in the western region of Cuba.
It is estimated that one million people need support. Nearly 636,218 children and adolescents from zero to 18 years of age live in the affected provinces, of which 223,000 reside in the most vulnerable municipalities.
47,000 people still do not have access to drinking water in Pinar del Río and in most of the places where the service is provided it is done by means of tanker trucks.
The United Nations System in Cuba supports recovery efforts with interventions in the sectors of Water, Hygiene and Sanitation, Education, Food Security, Housing and Health.
(Taken from Unicef)