Emergency WASH Response and durable solutions to support Vulnerable Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and host communities in Babile and Tuliguled woredas in Fafan Zone, Somali regional State. Fafan zone has remained a priority area and continues to have a significant IDP population and affected host population that remain vulnerable under the current circumstances. Despite the emergency response efforts in the zone, there exists an increased need to continue with a sizeable WASH intervention to ensure that minimum standards are maintained for the affected population.

Ensuring safe water supply to affected populations remains one of the main priorities for the WASH Cluster strategy and this project, using EHF fund, applies an integrated protection sensitive approach to reducing prevalence of morbidity and mortality by combining hygiene promotion with environmental sanitation and access to safe drinking water. The target beneficiaries will include a broad range of vulnerable persons affected directly by conflicts in Babile and Tuliguled woredas.

The project aims to enhance the health and wellbeing of the most destitute and vulnerable conflict induced IDPs and drought affected host communities, and will be focusing on increasing the ability for the affected people to access safe water supply and to improved hygiene and sanitation practices through context specific approaches that take into consideration the limited access for WASH services.  This project will improve the WASH situation of conflict induced IDPs in Babile Woreda Biiqa (Site ID-SO686), Qoliji (SO258 ) and Qoliji 2(SO587), and internally displaced persons in Darimi ( Site ID-SO628 ), Masle (Site ID-SO704) and Dudajirmo ( Site ID-  SO722) sites in Tuliguled woreda, in Fafan zone.

DRC is targeting large and medium sized IDP sites (with more than 1000 People), where highest needs for WASH exist and where the risk of AWD outbreak is significant. Furthermore, communities with critical water shortage as a result of recurrent drought will also be targeted. Through the proposed lifesaving and durable WASH activities, DRC will contribute to the risk mitigation of water borne diseases due to critical water shortage and likelihoods of AWD re-occurrence due to limited sanitation and hygiene facilities.

This project will directly reach 109,323 IDPs and 2,500 people form host community in Fafan zone and. In total, the action will benefit 111,823 people in the targeted woredas of Fafan zone of which 97.7% are IDPs. The WASH Needs of these people will be addressed through an extension of a water supply system from existing sources, construction of elevated reservoirs/tanks, construction of new hand dug wells, rehabilitation of existing one, provisions of water treatment chemicals, construction of water distribution points, water trucking, construction of latrines with hand washing units, provision of environmental and latrine cleaning kits/tools, NFIs distribution and hygiene promotion.
The project will ensure active participation of the targeted beneficiaries and stakeholders throughout the project cycle. Locations for water distribution points will be selected together with the beneficiaries particularly women participating in decision making, since women and children usually fetch water for their families. In addition, DRC will construct latrines with hand washing units to increase access to improve sanitation. Protection and safety concerns will be considered providing safe and easy access to the facilities by women and children as well as disable people. The project strategy considers the needs and concerns of all the intended beneficiaries by programming around their specific situations. For hygiene and sanitation, actions will be taken to improve knowledge and behavior through targeted messaging, enabling this through the targeted distribution of hygiene and NFI items to the most vulnerable groups of people. Volunteer hygiene committees to be formed and trained to continue the hygiene promotion activities in the new sites and ensure sustained good hygiene practices are maintained in an existing sites.