I missed it by a couple of days, but March 22nd was "World Water Day". And 2003 is the "International Year of Freshwater". Bet you didn't know that.
Access to water is vital. You knew that, but you've never been without, so you don't really think about it much. And even if you did think about it, you'd have a hard time imagining what being without water is really like. You'd find it nearly impossible to imagine what two million people without water is like.
UPDATE: " ICRC technicians have reached the Wafa-Al-Quaid water plant north of Basra that provides most of the city's water. The ICRC hopes that as soon as possible, preferably today, it will be able to carry out the necessary repairs to ensure that the plant can produce water again. However, for the network to become operational there needs to be sufficient pressure in the system, and this can take a while. "
. . .
'ICRC' stands for 'International Committee of the Red Cross', not to be confused with the 'IFRC' which stands for 'International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies'.
Shortly (much too shortly), the IFRC coordinates between national Red Cross Societies, while the ICRC handles conflicts (because national Red Cross Societies may be unable or unwilling to work across the battle lines).
Posted by Martial