29-07-2026 | di COOPI

Ethiopia. “Now water is close to my home again”

Before, I spent hours every day walking to collect just one jerrycan of unsafe water. Sometimes I came back exhausted, and it still wasn't enough for my family. Now, water is close to my home again. It has given us relief, dignity, and hope.

For Menen (fictitious name), a mother living at the Bundaqaran site in Deka Suftu Woreda, access to clean water has transformed daily life. Until recently, she spent hours each day walking long distances to collect a single jerrycan of contaminated water. Today, thanks to the rehabilitation of the water scheme at Bundaqaran, clean and reliable water is available much closer to her home. What was once an exhausting daily struggle has become a source of security and relief.

Furthermore, Menen’s household received WASH-NFI and dignity kits, which gave her and her family the tools to safely collect, store and treat drinking water. For her daughter, the dignity kit has meant much more than a package of essential items; it has provided the materials, privacy and confidence to manage her menstrual health safely and with dignity. She said:

When I got the kit, I was really happy. It has everything I need and I can take care of myself now. It makes me feel clean and comfortable.

Menen’s story reflects the impact of the project “Rise Up: Enhancing protection, health, MHPSS, nutrition, WASH, and mine action responses, while improving coordination to meet critical needs in underserved and contested areas of Northwest and Eastern Tigray”. Funded by the European Humanitarian Aids, the project is implemented by COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale, together with its partners DRC, Pastoralist Concern, PAPDA and IMC. This multisectoral initiative provides integrated support to conflict-affected and displaced populations across underserved and hard-to-reach areas of Ethiopia’s Somali and Oromia regions.

In these regions, nearly 170,000 people were forced to flee their homes after a sudden wave of inter-communal violence erupted in mid-2025. Families escaped with nothing, often traveling through the night to reach safety in informal displacement sites in the Liban, Daawa, and East Borena Zones. Reaching safety, however, did not mean the end of their hardships. Access to basic health, nutrition, and clean water remained a critical challenge for thousands of households.

The Rise Up project, now in its final phase, has helped to reverse this situation by restoring access to safe and reliable water. Through the rehabilitation of water schemes, the construction of emergency latrines and the distribution of dignity kits for conflict-affected internally displaced persons, it is ensuring that families like Menen’s can rebuild their daily lives with improved access to safe water, adequate sanitation and essential hygiene supplies.

The impact extends beyond meeting immediate needs. In communities disrupted by conflict and displacement, these interventions have restored a sense of dignity and hope. Today, families such as Menen’s are gradually rebuilding their lives with greater resilience, supported by reliable access to essential services.

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COOPI has been working in Ethiopia since 1995, delivering humanitarian and development assistance through a multisectoral and integrated approach. Its work focuses on supporting vulnerable groups, particularly internally displaced people forced to flee conflict or natural disasters. To date, it has reached more than 10 million direct beneficiaries and implemented 164 projects.