Provide lifesaving WASH services to most vulnerable communities living in underserved and hard to reach areas in Afmadow district in Lower Jubba Region of Somalia In Lower Juba region and across Somalia, there are multiple threats to the health and resilience of the population due to inadequate WASH facilities. For water supply, Afmadow population is dependent on a mix of unprotected surface water sources and protected groundwater sources. Surface water sources are seasonal and usually contaminated, while protected groundwater supplies are either difficult to access to due to distance and/or not affordable due the high costs of extraction and the dominance of private sector entrepreneurs in their operation, often resulting in rates that the lower income communities cannot afford to access a minimum quantity of water per person per day (Sphere).
In this context, ARC will implement a WASH cluster-specific intervention aiming (1) Rehabilitation and/or extension of 5 existing water infrastructures to provide reliable and sustained access to safe water based on identified strategic community water points to flood affected communities in Afmadow district. (2) Establishment of 5 gender balanced water management committees for ensuring continuity of services, appropriate operation and maintenance and as well strengthen women participation in WASH projects. (3) Installation of new and/or rehabilitation of 600 sanitation facilities that are lockable from inside, gender segregated, with hand washing facilities, disaster sensitive with appropriate disaster mitigation features designs. As part of ensuring protection mainstreaming, ARC will install solar light near communal sanitation facilities or if this is not feasible will provide with individual household’s solar lamp/torch. (4) Hygiene promotion campaigns focusing on hand washing with soap and hygiene kits distribution to enhance community sanitation and hygiene awareness and enable good practices. Significant amount of the above proposed WASH activities will be implemented through Market Based Programming (MBP) approach as to strengthen local markets. 
 The proposed WASH project will complement set of emergency Health, Protection and livelihood interventions currently ongoing in the targeted areas of Afmadow district through other funding to ensure a comprehensive approach to reduction of morbidity and mortality associated with diseases and hazards resulting from deficient sanitation conditions, the lack of access to safe water and low level of good hygiene practices. ARC’s WASH technical designs adhere to SPHERE standards/Somalia WASH cluster guidelines, mainstreaming protection and disability, gender considerations per IASC guidelines for GBV Interventions in Humanitarian settings as well as the environmental protection considerations and securing access to the elderly and those with special needs as per Handicap International Guidelines. Approximately 24,000 people (4,000 households) will benefit from this intervention. All ARC WASH programs are community led, and leverage stakeholder cooperation to ensure safe, equitable, and dignified access to WASH services for all. Under Health sector, ARC is supporting one MCH (Bosnia) in Dhobley and would start Outreach health services in Afmadow town targeting IDP sites with vulnerable individuals having difficult access to basic lifesaving health services. ARC would also provide un-conditional cash transfer to vulnerable groups in Dhobley for 3 months aiming to improve food security situation as well as the nutrition indicators. ARC’s integrated approach combining the WASH intervention with health and nutrition components ensures greater impact in the area of operation. Adequate WASH improves the overall public health indicators, including the lower incidence of communicable diseases, reduced mother and child morbidity and stronger effects of nutrition interventions as a result of prevention of loss of valuable nutrients from diarrheal diseases.