With potable water being essential for anything, especially during and after a national disaster, the Guyana Civil Defense Commission(CDC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) will be hosting a two-day workshop to ensure Guyana and its stakeholders are prepared for any eventuality under the Water and Sanitation Hygiene (W.A.S.H.) Programme.
The programme is being hosted at the head office of the CDC, with participants from the Guyana Red Cross(GRC), the Guyana Water Incorporated(GWI), the Mayor and City Council, CDC, The Health Emergency Operation Center, Environmental Health Unit, and Standard and Technical Services Unit (Ministry of Health), the Ministry of Housing and Water and a representative from the UNICEF.
The two-day training is sponsored by UNICEF with the aim of working towards the sustainable development goal, which speaks to access to clean and potable water for all.
During the two days of training, the agency will assess Guyana’s risk to accessible water in the event of a disaster and start to coordinate, manage and communicate with relevant stakeholders on how this will occur in the eventuality of anything to happen.
With a well-packaged two-day training programme, Deputy Representative to Guyana and Suriname, Irfan Ahktar, opened the proceedings this morning. He said it’s extremely important for us to be ready and training comes at a very important time since heavy rainfall is here.
“It’s an important time to take a stock of our preparedness, our readiness to respond to the floods. As we know, every season brings floods with climate change, extreme weather events have increased in frequency.
“This is not like a one-time happening. Every year we face the same problem. So, it’s very important that we are ready to respond to those needs.”
He said that Guyana is no different from the rest of the region even being that land of much water.
He explained that droughts, access to water and access to clean water remain an issue that can be compounded more when there is a national disaster. We must be prepared since it also affects children mostly also.
“In Guyana, challenges include flooding and limited potable water, especially in the hinterland and rural locations. These are significant in the lives of children and their families.
“It has an impact on low attendance in schools, low birth rates, diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases. So, water is linked to everything. If there is no safe water there is no sanitation.
“There are studies shown that there is low attendance in schools. There are many diseases associated to water sanitation”
Chief Medical Officer, Dr Narine Singh, pointed out that once Guyana can prepare for the issue of clean water, it can’t really be badly affected since water in the usual circumstance is one thing that’s directly affected.
“Once we can prepare and when we do present with this emergency, we are there to provide these services because you know WASH Services are one of the first things to be affected, that usually gets affected. Those are the ones that lead to the more mobility and sometimes mortality in these situations”
Dr, Narine added that Guyana must look back at how flooding affected access to essential services and by understanding the need it must also move to safeguard it or face the consequences.
“Every year we see flooding in Guyana and we see what happens when there is not an adequate supply of water; we see the increase in diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory tract infection, skin infection. All are related to wash activity and wash services.”
Major Loring Benons, Director General (ag) called on leaders to invest more in the WASH initiative since it remains very important to the livelihood of billions who are now suffering.
“The time is now for our leaders to invest in WASH. Every living being must have access to safe and potable water and the basic sanitation needed to clean and wash their hands.”
Mr. Benons further urged participants to not only come to just be at the workshop but also to learn and later apply the said knowledge.
