Water and habitat: Safeguarding public health

Update: September 2026

Armed conflicts are becoming more numerous, more complex, and far more protracted. Today, more than 130 armed conflicts are ongoing worldwide, with at least 20 lasting over two decades. An estimated 204 million people now live in areas controlled or contested by armed groups—30 million more than in 2021. As fighting moves into towns and cities, civilians are trapped in cycles of violence that destroy homes, separate families, and leave entire communities struggling to survive. When water systems, power stations, hospitals, and other essential infrastructure are damaged, the effects ripple across every aspect of daily life, disrupting health care, food systems, education, heating, communication, and livelihoods.

Respect for international humanitarian law is both a legal obligation and a practical form of prevention. When hospitals, water systems, and power networks are spared, communities retain access to the services they depend on—and the social fabric is more likely to hold. Across conflict zones, ICRC teams deliver clean water, safe sanitation, and secure shelter to families uprooted by violence. We repair and reinforce essential infrastructure, support local service providers, and co create long term resilience initiatives with development agencies, financial institutions, and national authorities. These efforts help people survive today while strengthening systems for tomorrow.

In Afghanistan, the province of Paktia illustrates the scale of need. Fifteen districts rely entirely on hand pumps for drinking water. In partnership with local water authorities, we repaired more than 600 hand pumps, ensuring over 90,000 people could maintain access to safe, adequate water. This work helps stabilize daily life for communities facing chronic insecurity and limited public services.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, more than 3.2 million people gained broader access to clean water in 2025 thanks to ICRC-supported water and sanitation projects. As hostilities surged in the east, we expanded operations to reach displaced families and conflict affected residents—repairing and upgrading water systems, donating spare parts and materials, and training local water committees. Altogether, we reached around 1.8 million internally displaced people and nearly 986,000 residents of Bukavu and Uvira who urgently needed restored water supply. We also improved infrastructure in places of detention and supported repairs in hospitals and a physical rehabilitation center.

In Ukraine, our work helped ensure access to water, electricity, heating, sanitation, and other essential services for approximately 2.1 million people in 2025. We supported utility companies with spare parts, specialized equipment, generators, and contingency stocks to help them withstand conflict related pressures. Long term urban resilience programs in Donetsk, Kherson, and Mykolaiv strengthened local service providers’ ability to diversify water sources, prepare for full scale rehabilitation, and recover from shocks. We also sustained services in IDP shelters and medico legal facilities, repaired water systems, renovated rooms, installed forensic refrigerators, provided materials for home repairs, and delivered bottled water where supplies were scarce.

We remain profoundly grateful for the trust you place in our mission and for your commitment to helping communities endure—and rebuild—amid conflict.