An Emirati project that provides solar water sources in Sudan

The project helps address a major problem of the long distance that the villagers, especially women and children, had to travel to reach the water source.

Telkuk (Sudan) - The UAE-led "Post 2020" initiative, launched by the Zayed Sustainability Prize and its partners, has provided a safe source of water for about 20,000 residents of the villages of Tawit and Tahijr, in eastern Sudan, using technology.

Practical Action installed two small water basins powered by solar energy according to a groundwater pumping system to provide 20 liters of water per day to the residents of the two villages, with the aim of enhancing access to water, and improving the levels of hygiene and health of the residents.

Practical Action, winner of the Zayed Sustainability Prize in 2017, is a non-profit organization based in the United Kingdom that works within a number of communities to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to overcome the challenges they face.

The two villages are located in the densely populated locality of Telkuk in Kassala Governorate. The residents of the area are considered nomadic pastoralists who raise livestock and move seasonally across vast areas in search of suitable places for grazing where water supplies are available.

Sudan has been suffering for decades from a significant lack of investments necessary to achieve optimal utilization of water in the agricultural sector, for reasons most notably the US economic sanctions that were imposed on the country.

According to the data of the Ministry of Irrigation, water sources in Sudan vary and extend from the main source of the tributaries of the Nile River to lakes and rainwater that is collected in dams and modest wells.

The country's share, according to the Nile Water Agreement in 1959, is about 18.5 billion cubic meters, while the average annual rainfall in the country is about 400 billion cubic meters.

Groundwater spreads over more than 50 percent of the area of ​​Sudan, and its renewable reserve is estimated at 15.2 billion cubic meters, and only 1.3 billion cubic meters of it is exploited.

Official government reports say that the country faces real risks from Ethiopia's construction of the Renaissance Dam, which is being built near its borders with a capacity of 74 billion cubic meters. Among the dangers is the possibility of its collapse, which could flood large swaths of Sudanese territory.

The tributaries of the Nile include the White and Blue Nile, Atbara, Setit, Dinder and Rahad, while the arable land area, according to official statistics, is about 200 million acres, of which Sudan exploits only 20 percent.

The successive years of drought and the difficult environment affected the lives of the population, who incurred great losses in livestock and faced threats to their traditional way of life.

This reduced the seasonal migration of livestock grazing and made it shorter distances, and this also had effects on the agricultural activities practiced by the population, which depend on rainfall due to their inability to move.

The "After 2020" initiative provides a safe source of water for about 20,000 residents of the villages of Tawit and Taher

Climate change in these areas caused a decrease in precipitation rates and an increase in temperatures, and thus a decrease in the groundwater level.

Monsoon floods also increased, which destroyed water supply infrastructure, as well as soil erosion, loss of crops and livestock, and destruction of forests and pastures.

"The initiative will contribute to improving access to water, which is one of the most important resources needed by the population, and thus improving basic public services," said Sarah Roberts, CEO of Practical Action, in a statement reported by the Emirates News Agency on Friday.

A study conducted by the company, which did not disclose the cost of the project, during the planning phase showed that up to 21 percent of children in the target community suffer from diarrheal diseases.

The project helps address another major problem, which is the long distance that villagers, especially women and children, had to travel to reach the water source.

In the absence of vehicles, they will have to navigate the rugged terrain on foot, with a distance of between two and four kilometres.

The UAE initiative has so far implemented 14 projects that have provided solutions in the fields of energy, health, water and food in Egypt, Lebanon, Nepal, Tanzania, Uganda, Jordan, Cambodia, Madagascar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Rwanda and Peru.

The supervisors of the initiative say that it will expand to include six other countries that have been identified to implement projects within it in the coming stages.