Rehabilitation of destroyed and deteriorated public WASH facilities located in vulnerable and undeserved communities in the Gaza Strip Oxfam in partnership with the Palestinian Environmental Friends (PEF) and in close coordination with the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) and WASH cluster members (AAH, GVC, IR, and Save the Children), propose this action that is fully aligned to the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) plans and OCHA’s 2020 first Standard Allocation Strategy in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). The proposed action aims to improve sustainable access to quality basic WASH services and improved access to resources by maintaining minimum operations of public WASH facilities in the Gaza Strip. 
The intervention will address the consequences of the ongoing blockade’s impact on the WASH sector and its effect on the operational capacity of the main operator of public WASH facilities in the Gaza strip through the rehabilitation and maintenance of critical WASH facilities. This action is an immediate response to ensure that girls, boys, women, men, elderly and people with disabilities have sufficient means to respond to their WASH related needs by ensuring sustainable access to quality basic WASH services which will mitigate and control waterborne diseases constantly affecting children under five years in targeted areas.
The main objective of the project is to contribute to strengthening the capacity of the humanitarian WASH system and efficient delivery of humanitarian WASH assistance to the vulnerable population threatened by the ongoing protracted crisis in Gaza. The specific objective is to enhance timely, equitable and dignified direct access of basic WASH services for 128,000 individuals living in vulnerable and under-served communities in Gaza. Oxfam and PEF will rehabilitate 9 deteriorated critical WASH facilities that are expected to suddenly collapse if they are not immediately rehabilitated and if maintenance works are not conducted. The rehabilitation will include 3 public sewage pumping and post treatment stations, 6 public water wells and one water well destroyed in Rafah during the last escalation in January 2020.
The rehabilitation and maintenance work of the water wells will include electro-mechanical maintenance and repair works, replacement of deteriorated fittings, discharge of the water head, reinforcement of the concrete base, steel pipes for the manifold, maintenance of water-cooling units and the dosing pumps, replacement of the impellers and drive shafts. The rehabilitation works related to pumping and post treatment stations will include electro-mechanical maintenance for submersible pumps, fittings and bar screens, replacement of deteriorated pumps, cleaning of wet pits from sludge, and mechanical and electrical repairs. Moreover, the rehabilitation and maintenance works will be accompanied with community engagement activities to raise awareness and to ensure that communities' feedback and recommendations are considered during the implementation of the proposed project.
The proposed project will positively impact WASH services at the household (HH) level in targeted communities since it will enhance water storage capacity and improve the quality of sanitation services. It will also contribute to alleviating the burden on women and children by managing care duties and household chores more effectively, including enhancing their engagement in decision making processes at the HH and community levels.