Bringing safe water to the DRC
Published: Feb 9, 2026 Reading time: 3 minutes Share: Share an articleIn the Democratic Republic of Congo, where conflict has displaced millions and turned daily life into a struggle for survival, safe water is often the difference between life and death. As hostilities in North and South Kivu intensify, with the vital support of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, we are providing a lifeline to thousands. From building water sources to distributing hygiene kits, this is the story of how Czech aid is restoring dignity and safety to families who have lost everything.
The provinces of North and South Kivu remain in a state of high tension. Since the beginning of 2025, intensified fighting has led to the capture of key cities like Goma and Bukavu, forcing millions of people to flee their homes, often multiple times. According to UN reports, over 1.1 million people are currently displaced within the country, often living in overcrowded camps with little to no access to basic amenities.
For these families, the lack of safe drinking water is a quiet killer, leading to deadly outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne diseases.
For women like Esperance, a mother of six, the arrival of aid was small moment of hope.
Safe water is just one piece of the puzzle
In the DRC, water collection is a task that falls mostly upon women and girls. Before we started working in the Minova health zone, many women and girls had to trek for hours through dangerous territory, facing risks of landslides and violence.
N’Simire Baraka (27), a mother of four, remembers the struggle:
With the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, we directly support nearly 25,000 people in Kalehe.
What we have achieved together:
• Safe Water: we built-or-repaired 6 water sources and 12 network collection points, providing clean water to over 6,000 people.
• Hygiene Kits: we: we provided 2,600 households "WASH" kits containing canisters, soap, and purification tablets.
• Sanitation: 4,500 people now have access to latrines and showers.
• Dignity for Women: we provided 1,127 women dignity kits for essential menstrual care.
• Education: Over 6,000 people participated in our hygiene awareness sessions to prevent the spread of disease.
• Training: we trained 14 local health workers
We alleviated the suffering of those affected by conflict and forced displacement thanks to the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.
Since May 2025 we helped people in Minova thanks to alerts from United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and other actors.
