USAID and Anera Join Imneizel Village at an Iftar to Inaugurate a New Water Network
June 23, 2016 | On Thursday, June 23, 2016, USAID hosted a Ramadan iftar at Imneizel village and celebrated the completion of a new water project with Anera and the community members. USAID/WBG Mission Director Dave Harden and Anera Country Director Paul Butler joined the Head of Imneizel Village Council Ali Mohammed Ihreizat and the local community for theiftar.
USAID invested $600,000, constructing a 250 cubic meter reservoir with a booster pump and installing 3,500 linear meters of water pipes in order to connect households to a water network. As a result, the 450 village residents are now, for the first time, connected to a new water network that provides regular supply of potable water.
At the event, USAID West Bank and Gaza Mission Director Dave Harden noted, l was here with you during last years Iftar and saw the dire need for this investment. I am proud to be here today, a year later, to announce that USAID completed this project so that you can now have running water in your homes. The U.S. Government remains committed to improve the daily lives of Palestinians. The Iftar was attended by the Consulate Generals Deputy Principal Officer Dorothy Shea; Anera Country Director Paul Butler; Head of Imneizels Village Council Ali Mohammed Ihreizat; and the local community.
Prior to the intervention, Imneizel residents were not connected to a water network and lacked access to safe drinking water. Village residents collected contaminated water from open rain catchment ponds and then stored it in underground cisterns. The water supply was inadequate, particularly during the hot summer months. This project also eases a financial burden as local inhabitants faced water shortages regularly and had to spend a significant portion of their incomes purchasing tankered water. This project, which also generated 105 short-term jobs, was implemented by Anera in coordination with the Palestinian Water Authority.
Since 2000, the U.S. Government, through USAID, has invested more than $300 million dollars for hundreds of water and wastewater projects in the West Bank and Gaza that has improved access to water to more than one million people. These projects include installing 900 kilometers of water pipelines; building or renovating 28 reservoirs; drilling or renovating 29 wells; and connecting 130,000 Palestinians to running water for the first time.
About Anera
Since 1968, Anera has been a leading provider of development, health, education, and employment programs to vulnerable communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East. Anera reaches the regions most vulnerable people with health, education and economic development programs and provides humanitarian and emergency relief in times of crisis. In 2016, the relief and development agency delivered over $57 million in programs to people in Lebanon and Palestine.