Residents left to fend for themselves after water stations supported by NGO stop working

Residents of more than 40 towns in north-west Syria face an increased risk of cholera and other diseases after an NGO-run water project was shut down.

Water pumps provided by Goal, an international humanitarian response agency, were switched off at the end of October, creating water shortages in 12 refugee camps and 42 towns and villages in Idlib province.

While some residents can afford to buy water supplies, the majority have been forced to go without, officials say.

Firas Dannoun, director of the Armanaz city council, said Goal had informed them five months in advance that the project might have to be shut down if a donor could not be found.

“We in the local council cannot secure water for the population without the support of charitable organisations,” he said.

Goal, which also provides food assistance as part of its humanitarian aid in northern Syria, “supported four water units in Idlib province to help regularly deliver clean running water to a catchment population of one million-plus people” in more than 100 communities, its website said.