Dubai charity conducts successful water and sanitation programme abroad

Tariq Al Gurg, chief executive of Dubai Cares, on a visit to Indonesia where his organisation completed several water projects to prevent the spread of disease among children. Courtesy Dubai Cares

DUBAI // A Dubai charity has completed water and sanitation projects in Indonesia and Sierra Leone, helping to improve the lives of youngsters in areas where poor hygiene and sanitation make it easy for infectious diseases to spread.

“Every year, millions of school-age children fall prey to diseases linked to poor water and sanitation that leave them weakened and unable to attend school on a regular basis or participate to their full potential,” said Tariq Al Gurg, the chief executive of Dubai Cares.

“The tragedy of the situation is that this could be easily prevented by enforcing sound hygiene and sanitation practices.

“Through our water, sanitation and hygiene [Wash] programmes in countries such as Indonesia and Sierra Leone, we are tackling the issue by changing student attitudes towards hygiene and showing them how an act as simple as washing their hands with soap will ensure better productivity at school.”

Dubai Cares has spent Dh20million promoting healthy sanitation habits to 90,000 school-age children in remote areas of Indonesia. A further 45,000 were reached through partnerships with Unicef, Care and Save the Children over the past two and a half years.

The initiative also prompted the Indonesian government to launch its own campaign in schools which, Mr Al Gurg said, had been one of the goals of the programme.

“One of our main objectives while implementing interventions is to get the local community and government to buy in and commit resources to the continuation of the programme after we have concluded it,” he said.

Dubai Cares worked with Unicef and Plan International to set up washing facilities at schools, providing direct access to 27,500 pupils. In addition, an education campaign on good sanitation and hygiene practices reached a further 99,250 pupils, their families and community members.

The charity also provided 2,520 teachers in 1,260 primary schools with information about hygiene, and cholera prevention and control.

According to Unicef, 2.5 billion people around the world lack proper sanitation facilities and 768 million still use unsafe sources of drinking water.

This has contributed to high mortality rates among children in many parts of the world and leads to decreased national productivity.

“Our Wash programmes strike at the heart of a problem that is seriously affecting attendance levels in schools across the world,” Mr Al Gurg said.

“Schools must be a safe haven for children to exercise their creative and intellectual capabilities and should adhere to high standards in sanitation and hygiene.

“Through our Wash programmes we are also using schools as a platform to encourage children and adults to incorporate hygienic practices into their everyday lives.”