According to Article 1 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is someone who has fled his or her country "owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion."

Timely and adequate provision of clean water and sanitation services to uprooted people is particularly important, given the vulnerability of their situation. The UN believes that all refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people and returnees should have access to adequate drinking water whether they stay in camps or in urban areas.

The provision of adequate sanitation services is equally important. Proper disposal of all waste as well as control of the carriers of communicable diseases, including mosquitoes, rats, mice and flies, is crucial to mitigate health risks and prevent epidemics.

But the optimum benefit from water and sanitation interventions can only be achieved if communities and individuals are made aware of the links between hygiene practices, poor sanitation, polluted water sources and disease.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that more than half the refugee camps in the world are not able to provide the recommended minimum daily water requirement of 20 litres per person; while some 30 percent of camps do not have adequate waste disposal and latrine facilities.

Special efforts have been made in recent years to address critical gaps in the provision of water and sanitation services.

>> Access to a selection of UN publications on water and refugees