By Libya Herald reporter.
Tripoli, 1 June 2015:
Tawerghan refugees living in nine camps across Libya are to be provided with better water, . . .[restrict]sanitation and hygiene facilities as a result of an investigation by UNICEF.
The move follows an agreement at the beginning of April between UNICEF and Tawergha Local Council to address the sanitation and hygiene needs of the Tawerghans.
“A rapid assessment conducted by UNICEF revealed critical sanitation and hygiene conditions in Tawergha camps” according to Ghassan Khalil, UNICEF Special Representative in Libya. “The urgent intervention aims at preventing water borne diseases and at providing a healthy environment for the children and their families” he said.
The nine camps – at Gasr Ben Gashir, Abu Sleem, Janzour , Ajdabiya, Bani Walid, Tarhouna and Benghazi – contain more than 8,700 people, most of them women and children, according to UNICEF. In association with local municipal councils and partner organisations, it will ensure that septic tanks are emptied and sewage pipelines desludged and flushed out.
In many of the camps where Tawerghans have been forced to live, conditions are appalling, with infrastructure stretched beyond limits. There are open drains and in wet weather, the camps are flooded out because of the lack of drains. [/restrict]