Life-saving humanitarian response to restore access to essential WASH services for returnee vulnerable populations in Aleppo and Idleb (Syria) AAH proposes 12-months project targeting locations witnessing returns (namely Tah and Abul Thohur in rural Idleb governorate, Khan Elshaar in Aleppo and Hassakeh) and holistically meeting the emergency WASH needs of 49,152 individuals (single counting).   

The project main outputs 1 “Women, men, girls and boys have access to enough safe water as per Sphere standards” and 2 “Women, men, girls and boys have improved access to sanitation” align with the WASH sector’s objective objective1: Support to water, sanitation/sewage and solid waste management systems to ensure regular services for affected people in Syria, as well as with the SHF Allocation Strategic Objectives: SO1) Provide lifesaving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable people with an emphasis on those in areas with high severity of needs and SO3) Increase the resilience of affected communities by improving access to livelihood opportunities and basic services, especially among the most vulnerable households and communities.

Access to water will be ensured through providing emergency water trucking in Abul Thohur – Idleb as only available modality to meet basic water needs of the population during one week in October. The water trucking will continue under different grants until the rehabilitation of Salamin water pumping station is completed another week of water trucking will be granted in Hasaakeh town that does not have access to any other water source. This water trucking is ongoing under different grants water systems in Tah - Idleb and Khan Elshaar - Aleppo locations will be rehabilitated allowing the population to meet their needs and stop the dependency from unaffordable private water trucking. The sanitation system in Tah will be rehabilitated to reach its optimal functionality, reducing environmental and public health related risks. All water and sanitation integrated components of the project contribute to the reduction of the incidence of communicable diseases as COVID19. Support to the longer-term operations and maintenance of the systems is provided through capacity building for the systems local operators, the provision of tools and PPEs.

The project will also have both a direct and indirect positive impact on food security, nutritional status and health outcomes. Indeed, the provision of enough safe water and re-establishing functional sanitation system directly reduce morbidities and improve food utilization - one of the components of food security indirectly since the targeted communities will have more income to spend on necessities other than water.

AAH is the best placed organization for this response due to its experience in similar projects in the area, its full-access to the targeted areas, secured MoWR approval, its capacity to start the operations according to the work-plan set through direct-implementation. Particular attention has been paid to ensure activities implemented by AAH are not duplication of activities undertaken by other agencies in the area and complement activities from other actors.

AAH is coordinating with the WASH sub-sector in Hassakeh to re-assign the neighborhoods covered with water trucking by WASH partners as the Allouk water pumping station completely stopped operations. It is likely that the actual number of beneficiaries for the water trucking activity in Hassakeh will increase, increasing the total number of beneficiaries of the project