AusAID and UNICEF improve the lives of girls in the Palestinian Territories

10 August 2011

Category

Development

AusAID and UNICEF are working together to provide schools in the West Bank and Gaza with adequate water supplies and sanitation services.

Two years ago, more than half the government schools in the Palestinian Territories lacked minimum acceptable water and sanitation access.

Over the past two years, AusAID has provided $4.28 million to UNICEF to restore or build water and sanitation facilities in schools across the West Bank and Gaza. As a result children and teachers have access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation facilities. Children also receive hygiene education to encourage the development of healthy behaviours for life, such as the importance of proper and frequent hand washing.

Improving water and sanitation facilities in schools not only directly improves the health of children, but also results in increased school attendance, especially for girls.

Earlier this year AusAID First Assistant Director General Catherine Walker, travelled to the Palestinian Territories to see first-hand the results of Australia's assistance. The students at Al Shioukh girls school in the Hebron district of the West Bank proudly showed off their new toilet block and explained how Australia's support has helped them.

'I used to go to Dalal Al Mughrabi school to use their toilets,' said nine-year-old student, Ansam.

'Most of the time I had to wait for more than 10 minutes to use the bathroom, because it was always overcrowded. Now I can use the toilet whenever I need to. We have our own toilets in our school.'

AusAID also partners with Oxfam and CARE to undertake water and sanitation activities across Gaza and the West Bank. AusAID's support has helped to restore seven kilometres of sewerage network in Gaza, improved hygiene promotion and hand washing for 900 households, connected more than 25 households to rehabilitated sewerage lines and provided safe water to 300 households.

AusAID improves water and sanitation in many countries. This work in the Palestinian Territories is part of a three-year $300 million initiative which aims to improve access to clean water and effective sanitation for the poor and supports developing countries to meet their Millennium Development Goals.