WASH First: Scaling up WASH SDG efforts: the first line of defence against COVID-19 - Uganda SUMMARY
The WASH First Programme aims to combat the spread of COVID-19 through improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene. The programme is funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by the WASH SDG Consortium partners SNV, WASH Alliance International and Plan International Netherlands. Plan is implementing the programme in 4 countries: Indonesia, Uganda, Kenya and Mozambique. The programme started in September 2020 and will run until the end of November 2022.In Uganda, Plan International is implementing the programme in Nebbi District. Together with the District Plan International Uganda will: (1) Raise awareness of the people living in the target areas on how to prevent the spread of COVID-19, (2) Provide the people living in the target areas with hygiene kits, disinfected equipment, soap and personal protective equipment to enable them to practice good hygiene, (3) Improve access to water facilities by rehabilitating water points. In Uganda the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on the 22nd of March 2020 and , first COVID-19 death was reported on the 24th of July 2020. Although confirmed cases initially were low in Uganda partly due to limiting testing, they increased substantially in the second halve of 2020. On the 18th of March 2020 lock down measures were taken in Uganda that included the closure of borders, schools, public places, businesses and transport. 
Plan International Uganda will work in Nebbi District, bordering Congo. The effects of the lockdown there include lack of safe water points, famine, loss of jobs and an increase in domestic violence. Communities have reported an increase in water usage, which is has resulted in long queues for water and long distances to travel for water and limited access to menstrual hygiene products due to the disruption of the supply chain. The WASH First programme focuses on specific objectives targeting high at-risk and most marginalized populations for which a full results framework has been elaborated. Main results in order to reduce the spread of the virus:
•	Result 1: Enhanced understanding of individuals, communities, health workers, schools and WASH service providers about mitigation measures against COVID-19 transmission
•	Result 2: Population at risk of COVID-19 have sufficient and constant access to commodities and consumables (handwashing facilities, disinfection equipment, soap, hygiene kits including menstrual health products and personal protective equipment (PPE))
•	Result 3: Population at risk of COVID-19 have safe (considering safeguarding and security) access to water and sanitation services through the construction of new and repair of non-functional water and sanitation facilities or through temporary/mobile supplies/services. Plan International Uganda has been working in Uganda since 1992 and since Nebbi since 2018.
This project will build on and be aligned with the existing WASH SDG project that is already being implemented in the target district Nebbi and will leverage on the human resource already in place to implement the proposed activities. The end beneficiaries of the programme activities will the vulnerable and at risk groups living in the 4 low income rural sub counties Kucwiny, Nyaravur, Akworo and Parombo in Nebbi District that boarders Congo. Plan International Uganda will implement the following activities on the 6 intervention strategies:

Intervention strategy 1: Awareness raising (campaigns and mass media campaigns) on COVID-19
•	Implement gender and socially inclusive hygiene promotion campaigns in public places and communities using vehicle caravans. Translate existing handwashing IEC materials including gender/ social inclusive and child friendly versions.
•	Procure airtime on electronic media to relay campaign gender sensitive and inclusive messages to create awareness on prevention and risk mitigation around public settings, water points and markets.
•	Localise and print gender sensitive information, education and communication materials on COVID-19 and hand hygiene.

Intervention strategy 2: Direct information sharing and messaging
•	Adopt non-conventional approaches including remote meetings to enable sub-county and community engagements.
•	Support training of health workers, village health teams (VHTs) and surveillance officers on prevention measures for COVID 19, using CMEs and on-the-job training.
•	Support training for VHTs and water and sanitation committees in making soap, sanitary pads and face masks. This training will enable VHTs and WASH committees to expand access to necessary WASH commodities.

Intervention strategy 3: Improving access to safe drinking water and water supply for handwashing, as
well as menstrual health and sanitation (including safe disposal of waste)
•	Support the district to restore water supply through rehabilitation of boreholes in public places, health centres and communities. This will facilitate effective hand hygiene and access to safe water.

Intervention strategy 4: Improving access to safe handwashing facilities
•	Procure and distribute hands-free handwashing facilities and detergents in public places including health care centres and water points. Care will be taken to ensure that such facilities are accessible to the vulnerable target groups both in terms of placement and operation.

Intervention strategy 5: Access to hygiene products including soap, disinfectant, PPE and menstrual
hygiene products
•	Procure items to support VHTs and health educators to increase access to hygiene products for target groups. These include: mega-phones (for targeted information provision), education and communication materials, handwashing stations, soap, detergent and facial masks.
•	Procurement and distribution of hygiene kits for girls and women.

Intervention strategy 6: COVID-related coordination meetings with local government and other
stakeholders
•	Strengthen coordination of COVID-19 initiatives at the district and regional levels by revamping the district water and sanitation coordination committees and through UWASNET. 
•	Support advocacy and influencing efforts at the national level by documenting and publicizing the impact of COVID-19 on the WASH sector. Institutional: By involving local government and local stakeholders, the ownership of the Programme will be anchored in the local institutional structure. 

Social: The active participation of the target groups is essential to ensure that we respond to their specific needs.  The overall goal of this program is the “promotion of health-related hygiene practices to prevent further spread of COVID-19 through awareness raising and improved access to WASH services.” The intervention will ensure that the achievement of the SDG 6 goals does not come to a standstill in the intervention areas.