Darfur is emerging from a period of protracted conflict, much of it concentrated in rural areas. During the conflict hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons moved to urban Darfur, their presence posing unprecedented challenges regarding access to water supplies given the unanticipated surge in demand.
The UK Department for International Development (DFID) is funding the Darfur Urban Water Supply Project (DUWSP), which will support water supply development in three Darfur state capitals—Nyala, El-Fasher and El-Geneina—plus Zalengei town. The project is being implemented by UNOPS in collaboration with the State Water Corporation (SWC) in Darfur.
This study was commissioned to examine the social impact of increased water availability in Nyala, provided for through this project. The purpose is to understand in more detail how the existing ‘water economy’ of Nyala may change as the resource is made more available via an expanded town network, and how this change may affect the poor and contribute to or mitigate future conflict. Nyala has been chosen as a case study on the basis that other urban contexts are likely to be affected in a similar way.