ARCI Firenze has organized a special dinner tonight to mark both the occasion of Kobane World Day and present a first balance of the project the Italian association is implementing in the Rojava city.

The project is called 'Av, Jiyan, Azadi', 'Acqua,Vita, Libertá' activitade by ARCI in February 2018 and aiming at providing the villages of Kobane with water.

To date, the project has provided water to 11.850 people who have now access to water in their houses. In total 1,975 houses have returned to have direct access to water.

The project has been promoted in collaboratiorn with Water & Energy Right Foundation, the Italian municipalities of Barberino Val d'Elsa, San Casciano in Val Pesa and in partnership with UIKI (Italy's Kurdistan Information Office) Italy.

The figures are confirming that in fact the project has been overcoming results' expectations by 20%.

At the dinner to further finance the initiative, speeches were delivered by Manfredi Lo Sauro (responsible of the International activities of ARCI Firenze), Mauro Perini (President of Water and Energy Right Foundation) and Ozlem Tanrikulu (UIKI President) as well as representatives from the Italian municipalities involved in the project.

Background

The project, Av, Jiyan, Azadi - Acqua Vita Libertà, was created with an aim to "improve the socio-economic conditions of the population of the North of Syria" through a series of activities that aim to "contribute to the water supply of three villages in the Canton of Kobanê and to the efficient irrigation systems of the Canton of Kobanê."

In its first phase, these outcomes were to be achieved through the repair of two water pumps in the villages of Sheran and Alisar, and the instalment of two water pumps in Shegler (known as Shyokh in Arabic).

The project Av, Jiyan, Azadi - Acqua Vita Libertà has been a success for the municipality of Kobanê. Thanks to the support of Arci Comitato Territoriale di Firenze, the Water Board of the Municipality of Kobanê was able to refit two important village wells with new, modern pumps, and increase the availability of water in the city of Kobanê by installing a new water pump at the Shyokh (Shegler) pump station. A total of 1.825 households have (re)gained access to water through the water grid served by the three repaired pump stations as a result of this project. With a local average of 6 persons per household, this means approximately 10.950 people now have access to water in their own homes.

This increased access to water for new households, as well as the increased reliability and increased hours of availability of water for the households that were already connected to the three water networks will significantly increase peoples' wellbeing not only in terms of health and hygiene, but also in terms of increased livelihood opportunities, such as subsistence farming. People will be able to spend less time and money on bringing water to their homes from other places, and the increasing availability of water in the long-term will allow more and more people to return to their homes in both cities and the countryside of Kobanê, from refugee camps in and outside of Syria.