Stockpiling Strategic Emergency WASH Supplies Afghanistan is a protracted and complex emergency in which conflict and recurrent natural disasters combine. It is a context with multiple localised emergencies, striking communities and populations characterized by low resilience and/or high vulnerability. At the onset of a shock, displaced populations often fall into a state of acute emergency, and need urgent support to meet their immediate basic needs.  Large scale displacements undermine the capacity of relief agencies rendering them unable to act quickly as they lack the necessary resources and supplies to deploy on an immediate basis.  The HNO estimates 1.1 million people to be in urgent need of WASH. This figure includes the 290 thousand people displaced due to conflicts and 160 thousand people affected by natural disasters among others. Water and sanitation are critical determinants for survival in the initial stages of a disaster. Disaster-affected people are generally much more susceptible to illness and death from diseases, which to a large extent are related to inadequate sanitation, inadequate water supplies and inability to maintain good hygiene. The most significant of these diseases are diarrheal and infectious diseases transmitted by the fecal-oral route. Ready availability of emergency WASH supplies in locations close to the displacement/conflict/disaster affected populations will enhance the ability of WASH partners to act rapidly in order to alleviate suffering and save lives.  

DACAAR has implemented two projects (# 3397 and 5023) with CHF funding  whereby the organization undertook procurement, prepositioning and stockpiling of strategic WASH supplies in support of the WASH Cluster.  The proposed project is a continuation of this efforts and builds on the stockpiles currently available with DACAAR.  The intervention has full backing of the WASH cluster (see annex 1) and will save significant time, resources and efforts on the part of WASH cluster partners to access strategic WASH supplies for their on-going interventions. 

The project aims to procure and stockpiling the following items. The decision as to the number of items have been made together with the WASH cluster and in line with the projected needs in the HRP for such items during 2018.

1) 16,200 family hygiene kits sufficient for the same number of families or approx. 113,400 individuals
2) 4,000 family water kits for the same number of families or approx. 28,000 individuals 
3) 1,000 sets of materials for construction of emergency latrine and bath facilities for 3,000 families or approx. 20,000 individuals. 
Given that this is a stockpiling project and the distribution of the supplies will be undertaken by WASH partners, the beneficiaries mentioned above are not therefore somehow the direct beneficiaries of the project.  DACAAR will be reporting on these beneficiaries based on reports from WASH partners who access the stockpiles for their projects.

Procurement is made in bulk using OCHA-endorsed procurement procedures. Strong internal control mechanisms will be applied throughout the process.

The procured stock will be warehoused in DACAAR warehouses in 6 strategic geographical hubs as follows:

-Jalalabad city (Nangarhar),
-Kandahar city,
-Herat city,
-Mazar-e-Sharif city (Balkh)
-Kunduz city
-Taluqan city (Takhar)

These locations are central enough to access from most of the provinces and districts of the country where large numbers of people are displaced due to conflicts and natural disasters thereby enabling rapid deployment of the supplies in support of WASH response.   A decision as to number of each items to be supplied to each location will be made upon completion of the procurement process and in close collaboration with the WASH Cluster to ensure most appropriate distribution in line with the situation at the time.  DACAAR will maintain sufficient flexibility to transfer supplies among the warehouses as the emergency situation dictates during the project.