WASH and Protection Response for Newly Accessible Areas in Al Abbassiya, South Kordofan The proposed project aims to address the continued critical water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and protection needs of the newly accessible population, including the vulnerable host communities, returnees and IDPs in Al Abbassiya locality, South Kordofan. The project will target an estimated 13,880 beneficiaries in seven villages, including Kalinda, Jugayia, Banat, Um Marih, Tabasa, Kumsoro and Seysaban. Since 2011, South Kordofan State has endured a conflict between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which has displaced thousands. The residents of Western Al Abbassiya who were affected have experienced multiple cycles of displacement caused by successive outbreaks of fighting between the government and opposition forces. The proposed target areas have remained inaccessible to humanitarian actors for several years due to insecurity and have only recently become accessible. 

The need for humanitarian action is also supported by the results of an interagency rapid assessment carried out in Al Abbassiya from 4-8 February 2018. The assessment found that an estimated 34,896 individuals across 16 target villages require immediate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) assistance. The intervention proposed will aim at increasing equitable access to safe WASH services to 13,880 individuals (2,776 men, 2,915 women, 4,025 girls and 4,164 boys) affected by the emergency. These beneficiaries include 3,010 IDPs, 6,420 returnees and 4,450 vulnerable host community members. The interagency assessment also highlighted that protection risks in the assessed communities have increased due to the multiple cycles of displacement many households experienced between 2010-2015. Displacement and conflict erode traditional protection mechanisms and increase protection risks in conflict-affected communities. Furthermore, 60 percent of the IDP population in the assessed locations are women and children, who are generally more vulnerable to protection risks. Child welfare staff and services in the area is limited and individuals in need of psychosocial support cannot avail of such assistance. There are high numbers of children out of education, engaged in child labor, and/or living on the streets. In addition for girls, female genital mutilation and early marriage are widely practiced in the assessed locations.

The planned activities are intended to provide safe water, access to sanitation facilities and enable the target groups to practice safe hygiene. Specific activities will be the rehabilitation of non-functional hand pumps, drilling water supplies (mainly hand pumps), construction of sanitation facilities, hygiene promotion and distribution of essential WASH NFIs. MC will work with volunteer female community hygiene promoters (CHPs) by providing them with basic training on the participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation (PHAST) approach. Female CHPs will help address the particular hygiene needs of conflict-affected women and girls, as females in affected and displaced communities often feel more comfortable approaching female CHPs to discuss sensitive health and hygiene issues. By selecting CHPs from within the community, there will be an enhanced sense of community ownership for the intervention and increased self-reliance, further restoring dignity. Furthermore, MC will implement a community-based protection program that will raise awareness regarding protection and gender and empower them to prevent and respond to protection risks. Specific activities will include the establishment and training of protection and gender working groups (PGWGs), and monthly meetings to raise awareness with the community. MC will train the PGWGs to carry out community mapping of service providers and support structures, and also to identify their strengths and weaknesses. MC will also construct community centers at schools to serve as a gathering place for these activities.