Provision of life-saving WASH response to population in 3 priority locations: Terekeka, Melut and Manyo Counties. Despite the partial formation of the renewed government of national unity on 22 February 2020, major challenges remain ahead. The political instability engulfing South Sudan has burdened the country with an array of challenges since its outbreak in 2013. These have led to the near collapse of the national economy and to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis with millions of people facing severe food insecurity across the country. Communal violence is likely to persist along with the climate change induced natural disasters, causing important displacement of the population. As a result of the above, the humanitarian needs remain extremely high. Food insecurity is the most alarming current need in South Sudan, with multiple countries in IPC 4 and 5.

This project proposes to implement a WASH EPR response for the counties with the higher needs where static partners do not have the capacity to response. The initial plan is to focus on the greater Upper Nile area (Fangak, Melut and Nyirol counties), while remaining flexible to potentially address more urgent needs in South Sudan upon alert form the Needs Analysis Working Group.

South Sudan is facing many challenges where the lack of WASH infrastructures and services aggravates the health situation of the population.
With the proposed project, SI will ensure that 30,000 individuals will have a timely and equitable access to WASH life-saving services, to prevent and mitigate WASH-related diseases. Upon alert raised by the ICCG/NAWG, SI EPR team will get deployed for a period up to 3 months. The design of the activities will depend of the initial needs assessment, and will cover the access to water through the rehabilitation of boreholes, the installation of SWATs or the distribution of WASH NFI kits. Adapted messages on hygiene good practices will complement the distribution of hygiene and MHM kits to provide to the population dignified means of hygiene. Finally, on top of latrines in institution rehabilitation/construction, the EPR team will have the possibility to set up emergency latrines when being deployed in populated area.

In this twelve-month project, the SI EPR team will also conduct three assessments of two weeks upon request from the cluster to provide reliable information on the places where an alert was identified.

All activities will be implemented according to the WASH cluster EPR guidelines, with a close collaboration with the other EPR teams and the WASH cluster representatives.

Throughout the implementation of its activities, SI will work closely with the beneficiaries, the local authorities, the other humanitarian partners. The accountability to affected population will be a priority, through the implementation of a CRM, KII, FGD and baseline and endline surveys to measure the impact of the activities implemented. 

Households with vulnerable members (people suffering from malnutrition and undernutrition, pregnant and lactating women, elderly, etc.) will be prioritized. Collaboration with protection and nutrition partners will strengthen the relevance of the selection. 

The design of the proposed project gives a special focus on SI’s exit strategy. Through strong collaboration with all the relevant stakeholders, the inclusion of the community at every step of the project and the reinforcement of local knowledge, SI aims to have a long-lasting impact, even after the end of the project.