IOM has launched a 3-month pilot study of water supply, sanitation
and hygiene for internally displaced families (IDPs) living on the
outskirts of Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

The study, which is funded by the Japanese International
Cooperation Agency (JICA), will test methodologies for the
promotion and distribution of a new water treatment method that
could benefit thousands of vulnerable Somalis in Mogadishu. The
country is experiencing its worst drought in 60 years.

The programme aims to provide clean and safe drinking water and
will promote hygienic behaviour among vulnerable IDPs and affected
host communities. It will also strengthen the technical capacity of
Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and civil society
to better respond to environmental health challenges.

Under the project, drinking water in the IDP camps will be made
potable using a Japanese water treatment flocculant technology
developed by the Nippon Poly-Glu Company Ltd (NPG).

Poly Glu is a clarifying agent made from food borne acid and
natural minerals and has previously been used for water treatment
in countries including Mexico, Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh and
Iraq.

"Access to clean water is the basis for a healthy life. IOM's
mission is to promote, and in this case, directly engage in
provision of safe and clean water for mobile populations and host
communities in Somalia, therefore increasing their chances for
leading a healthy and productive life," says Dr. Aleksandar Galev,
IOM's Regional Health Assessment Coordinator for Africa and the
Middle East.

For more information please contact:

Chiaki Ito

IOM Somalia

Tel: +254 737 860 720

E-mail: "mailto:cito@iom.int">cito@iom.int