Water and Sanitation (WatSan)
Why is WatSan an issue for the Red Cross?
Emergency relief for disaster victims has been a key activity of the Red Cross/Red Crescent (RC/RC) movement for more than 80 years. The Austrian Red Cross (AutRC) was one of the first to provide training for water and sanitation emergency response units. As access to safe water and adequate sanitation is a chronic need for more than one billion people, increasing emphasis is put on longer-term activities. Red Cross activities focus on sustainability and disaster preparedness. The AutRC has long-standing experience in the fields of water, sanitation and hygiene.
Service Center Water & Sanitation of the Austrian Red Cross
In 2007, the AutRC decided to pool its experience in the form of a water and sanitation service center. This center offers support and consultancy services on the basis of state-of-the-art know-how and long-term field experience for:
Assistance for AutRC-Programs and Projects
- Assistance in project design
- Technical assistance and backstopping in project implementation
- Assessment, monitoring and evaluation of water and sanitation projects
- Water and sanitation trainings for AutRC long-term delegates and partners
Capacity Building
- WatSan trainings for humanitarian actors
- See training program, co-funded by ECHO
Services provided to IFRC
- Emergency deployments
- Development of disaster response tools emergency water and sanitation trainings
- All activities outside AutRC’s own projects are coordinated by and should be requested through the Water, Sanitation and Emergency Health Unit in Geneva: http://www.ifrc.info/en/what-we-do/health/water-and-sanitation/
