At LifeStraw, we provide safe water to communities around the world on the basis of need. LifeStraw is committed to supporting safe water efforts in Gaza, both during the current, immediate response efforts, as well as long-term post-war recovery. According to the UN, up to 1.9 million people (approximately 90 percent of the population) across the Gaza Strip have been internally displaced. Some have been repeatedly displaced as many as nine or ten times.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has repeatedly warned that more people could die from disease than from bombings in the Gaza Strip. Since the onset of the conflict, WHO has reported greater than 527,000 cases of diarrheal disease and over 923,000 cases of acute respiratory infections (as of June 16, the most recent date for which data is available). With 21 of 36 hospitals destroyed or out of service, access to safe water for drinking, hygiene, and sanitation is more critical than ever.
Early in the conflict, LifeStraw’s Safe Water Fund, with support from our community, donated over 13,000 LifeStraw personal filters to the people of Gaza. We worked in partnership with Global Empowerment Mission, Resala Charity Organization, and Anera, a nonprofit organization supporting refugees and displaced persons across Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon.
More recently, the we provided an additional 2,000 Peak Series personal water filters to Distribute Aid USA and Omprakash to further support Anera’s work in Gaza. The filters are components of hygiene kits which also contain 6,000 Period brand reusable menstrual hygiene pads, 2,000 Earth Breeze laundry detergent sheets, and 909 bottles of CleanLife no-rinse body wash.
The needs for safe water in Gaza are both immediate and ongoing. With damage and fuel shortages hampering both water desalination and distribution systems, Gaza faces a full-scale water crisis now exacerbated by an exceptionally dry summer and dwindling supplies. The UN reports that groundwater, historically 80 percent of the region’s water supply, has fallen from 35,000 to 15,000 cubic meters per day. What water is available is also less safe, as fuel shortages have reduced the ability to properly sanitize the water.