In Dudumaad, Filtu Woreda, a rehabilitated underground water tank is helping families spend less time searching for water and more time building secure, resilient livelihoods.
For families in Dudumaad, Filtu Woreda in Ethiopia’s Liban Zone, access to water has never been simply about convenience.
In this drought-prone environment, water determines whether families can maintain their health, care for children, sustain livestock and protect the livelihoods on which they depend.
For years, residents faced the daily challenge of finding reliable water. During periods of scarcity, families could spend hours searching for water, while the cost and distance involved placed an additional burden on already vulnerable households.
That reality is beginning to change.
Through support from Stichting Vluchteling, RACIDA has rehabilitated the underground water infrastructure serving the Dudumaad community, strengthening access to a more reliable source of water for local residents.
The investment forms part of a wider SV-supported intervention aimed at increasing access to water for 7,200 internally displaced people and members of host communities across Dhekasuftu, Dollo-Ado and Filtu woredas in Ethiopia’s Liban Zone. The project includes rehabilitation of underground water tanks and associated facilities such as water storage, water kiosks and solar-powered pumping systems.
For Dudumaad residents, the significance of the intervention is visible in the everyday changes.
With the rehabilitated system providing a more dependable water source, families no longer have to spend as much time searching for water from distant or unreliable sources.
The time saved matters.
For women and girls, who often carry a disproportionate responsibility for collecting water, shorter distances and more reliable access can mean more time for childcare, household activities, education and income-generating work.
For households with livestock, improved water availability also contributes to protecting productive assets and supporting pastoral livelihoods.
And for the wider community, reliable water infrastructure provides an important layer of protection against the effects of recurring drought.
Beyond infrastructure
The Dudumaad intervention is not simply about repairing a water tank.
It is an investment in resilience.
In arid and semi-arid communities such as those in Liban Zone, climate shocks can quickly turn water scarcity into wider humanitarian consequences. When water sources fail, families may be forced to travel further, spend more money on water, reduce livestock holdings or compromise on hygiene and sanitation.
Reliable water infrastructure helps communities absorb some of these pressures.
That is why RACIDA’s approach goes beyond emergency water provision to strengthening infrastructure that communities can continue to use and manage over time.
The rehabilitation also reflects an important principle in RACIDA’s programming: communities should be at the centre of solutions that affect their lives.
By investing in durable water infrastructure and working with local structures, the intervention helps strengthen community ownership and the sustainability of the water service.
A change residents can see
During a recent joint field mission by RACIDA and Stichting Vluchteling, the impact of the intervention was visible on the ground.
Residents spoke about the difference between searching for water and having water closer to home.
The rehabilitated system now provides a critical community asset—one that supports households not only today, but through future periods of water stress.
For RACIDA, this is the essence of resilient humanitarian action: responding to an immediate need while investing in systems that reduce vulnerability to the next shock.
The Dudumaad experience demonstrates what targeted investment in water infrastructure can achieve.
A rehabilitated tank may appear to be a relatively simple intervention.
For a family that once spent hours searching for water, however, it can mean something much bigger: time returned, costs reduced, dignity protected and greater confidence in tomorrow.
Across Ethiopia’s Liban Zone, RACIDA continues to work with communities and partners to expand access to safe water, strengthen resilience and support vulnerable populations affected by drought, displacement and other shocks.
With the support of Stichting Vluchteling, investments such as Dudumaad’s water system are helping turn water access from a daily struggle into a foundation for healthier, more resilient communities.
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Supported by Stichting Vluchteling and implemented by RACIDA.
