Emergency WASH Response in Guit County in South Sudan Mercy Corps proposes an 7-month timeframe to provide essential lifesaving water, sanitation and hygiene services for communities in Guit, with a scope for expanding to other high-need areas within and around these counties.  This emergency response proposes to reach a minimum of 14,000 individuals, with an expanded package of life-saving, emergency WASH interventions that will reflect the evolving needs in the county.  
The main components of the project are:
	Provision of key WASH NFIs in coordination with the WASH/Log Cluster with a focus on providing messaging  on the use and spread of acute watery diarrhea (AWD), as well as enforcing behavior change to ensure the mitigation against the outbreak and spread of AWD diseases.
	Provision of clean and safe water to HHs and affected communities through rehabilitation and maintenance of borehole and water systems, as well as constant monitoring of the quality of water supplied (and consumed) at the HH level.
	Create and strengthen the link with Nutrition and Health partners to ensure that there is access to WASH facilities in nutrition centers (ie construction of latrines and hand-washing points at  OTP/TSFP centers), as well as messaging on the link between AWD and malnutrition. A basic referral system will be adopted to refer cases of health and nutrition to the existing health centers and OTP/TSFPs.
	Hygiene promotion at the HH level to ensure safe hygienic practices, including personal, household and environmental hygiene. HHs will be encouraged to provide their own sanitation through household latrines with the provision of tools and training on basic household latrine construction. This will empower the households to increase knowledge of construction methods, in the event that they have to relocate, and allow them access to facilities when there is no village center.  Previous experience implementing emergency WASH services has shown that the construction of household latrines is more effective than building communal latrines.  Mercy Corps will evaluate the construction in coordination with the Beyond Bentiu strategy and adjust if necessary. Emphasis will be given on behavior change to eradicate and curb open defecation. Dedicated Menstrual Hygiene sessions will be carried out in the community for women of child bearing age and school going girls/teenagers.
Mercy Corps is plan to set up a Rapid Response Mission (RRM) team, designed to reach the hardest to reach areas in order to re-open humanitarian space and deliver WASH response in a timely manner.  The RRM team will be responsible for implementing the above intervention, as well as other interventions required, as the need arises.
The RRM team will initiate an assessment within 72 hours of any emergency declared in South Sudan, including IDP displacement, epidemics, drought, informal camp settings, influx of returnees and if prioritized by the WASH cluster and OCHA, flooding and cattle raiding.  Preliminary assessment findings will be shared within a day after assessment, and a final assessment report will be shared within 2 days of assessment. Mercy Corps will initiate an emergency response within 72 hours (maximum) of an assessment (if the report indicates a need of emergency response).  
Teams will be deployed within 72 hours of assessment (subject to security), and be partially based in Bentiu, to ensure active participation in emergency response meetings held in Juba (by WASH cluster), to coordinate all emergency responses, and to avoid any duplications with other WASH partners.  The response time frame may vary from 3 weeks to 3 months (depending on the needs assessed and type of interventions).  Teams may be deployed anywhere in South Sudan, and will reach the most desperate communities in the least accessible parts of the country using whatever means necessary, whether by air, by boat, or by foot.