Restoring access to water in the communities affected by the war in Ukraine

By Sofiia Borysenko

“I live alone as my children have left. I didn’t have drinking water, only technical water, which was very salty. It was impossible not only to drink it but also to use it for washing, as the detergent wouldn’t foam. So, I took water from my neighbours' wells and brought two buckets at a time. The water in my well is very bad too,” says Oryslava, an elderly lady from Vysokopillia, a village in the Kherson Region of southern Ukraine.

The region has been drastically affected by the ongoing war. Almost every house in the village was either damaged or destroyed. In addition to the hostilities, the breach of the Kakhovka Dam in 2023 caused the water levels in wells and private boreholes to drop significantly, further complicating the locals' access to clean water.

Southern Development Strategy, in cooperation with ACTED and with the financial support of the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, is installing filters in war-affected communities where water-supply systems have been damaged by the conflict.

In 2023-2024, Southern Development Strategy provided the local utility company with materials for laying street water pipes, drilled a well and installed a pump and a water tower. 

In partnership with Dan Church Aid, Norwegian Church Aid and Kirkens Nødhjelp, Southern Development Strategy, also with the financial support of the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund, is also installing water towers in other locations to ensure that people have access to clean water.

“Due to low pressure, many houses simply had no water. We used to go to the farm to collect water. It was a little better at the farm, but we still had to filter it,” says Olha, a resident of Sadok village in the Kherson region, where one of these water towers has been recently installed. 

Since the escalation of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF) has become the largest country-based pooled fund (CBPF) in the world. Over the past three years, UHF has delivered lifesaving, high-impact support to nearly 7 million people across Ukraine. In 2024, the UHF provided US$162 million through three funding allocations to nearly 60 partners across Ukraine. In 2024, UHF planned to reach nearly 330,000 people with water, sanitation, and hygiene services (WASH), the largest number of people reached by the cluster.