UNICEF checks drinking water in Syria’s Kobani
KOBANI, Syria (North Press) – A delegation of United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) visited on Sunday water directorate in the city of Kobani in northern Syria to check out the drinking water coming from the Euphrates River.
This is the first visit paid by the UNICEF. The delegation will report the management after completing the visit.
On September 30, World Health Organization (WHO) warned of “seriousness of the situation” in Syria after cholera outbreak.
Masoud Bozi, co-chair of Water Directorate in Kobani, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), said that this is the first time that an official delegation visited the area.
They made a report regarding the current situation of the drinking water and sanitation, Bozi added.
The UNICEF delegation visited water pumps in the village of Qaraqoy, west of Kobani, the town of al-Shuyukh, and Tel al-Abar, in addition to visiting People’s Municipality in Kobani to check water and sanitation in the city.
This visit came after the cholera outbreak in the areas of northeast Syria due to low Euphrates water levels turning it into swamps and contamination.
On September 21, Jwan Mustafa, co-chair of the Health Board of the AANES said that analyses confirmed the presence of “cholera vibrio” in the Euphrates River as a result of water reduction and the swamps created.
16 deaths of the pandemic have been recorded up to date, according to Mustafa.