By Libya Herald reporters.
Tunis, 14 August 2017:
More than half of schools surveyed throughout Libya have poor quality drinking water and inadequate sanitation, the UN said today.
A check on 140 schools by the UN children’s charity UNICEF discovered that 54 percent of them failed to provide safe drinking water and adequate waste disposal. Working with the Government of National Accord’s education ministry and the Libyan Centre for Disease control during the three months of this year, UNICEF found that school children were at risk of serious health problems, particularly water-borne diseases.
“The findings provide a sound knowledge base for the relevant stakeholders to prioritise funds for improving the water and sanitation facilities in schools,” said the Disease Control centre chief Dr Badereddin Annajar.
UNICEF’s Libya representative, Ghassan Khalil, urged all parties in Libya to take immediate concerted action to improve school water quality and sanitation . He added that In 2016, UNICEF and its partners had improved these conditions in 20 schools in Sebha and Obari. This year they have started work on a further 32 schools countrywide.