Delivering emergency and sustained WASH assistance to address acute WASH needs in IDP sites and most vulnerable host communities in the districts of Mudhaffar, Qahirah and Salh of Taiz Governorate – Parameter #2. Yemen has experienced a violent multi-sided conflict since 2015, leading to the deterioration of public WaSH services. Moreover, inflation has created barriers to accessing safe water and personal hygiene items, further aggravating the risk of WaSH-related diseases. According to the UN-HRP June 2020, WaSH is the sector with the highest number of estimated people in need in Yemen, reaching a staggering 20.5M (67%). This is especially true in Taiz Governorate, where the provision of humanitarian assistance remains severely limited, and where the lack of funding for 2020/2021 has created gaps in humanitarian operations, leaving the main humanitarian needs insufficiently addressed (water and sanitation) or, worse, dangerously overlooked (waste management). Moreover, Salh, one of the districts in Taiz city targeted under this project, is one of the top cholera/AWD risk spots. 

SI has been operational in Taiz governorate since 2018, responding to the most acute WaSH and FSL needs of vulnerable populations. The response will aim at addressing the water supply, sanitation and hygiene needs of 27, 995 IDPs, returnees and vulnerable hosts in 5 IDP sites in three districts of Taiz Gov, under YHPF priority 2: “covering emergency gaps in IDP collective sites”. More specifically, SI will intervene in three districts of Taiz City, which are considered a top priority by the WaSH Cluster, with 85% of the population considered to be persons in need. 

This specific intervention focuses on reducing morbidity and mortality caused by severe malnutrition and WASH related diseases by providing the most vulnerable and exposed communities with a comprehensive WASH package.

To address the acute WASH needs of IDPs and vulnerable hosts in Taiz city, SI proposes an integrated WaSH intervention that will be twofold: 1) in Al Mudhaffar, SI will target the Al Matar Al Qadeem sub-district for both vulnerable host communities and IDPs in sites and 2) in Al Qahirah and Salh districts, SI interventions will focus on IDP sites that are demonstrating the most critical needs. 
Water supply will be provided through 1) reactivation and operation of the existing borehole in Al Matar Al Qadeem, 2) protection/repair of two shallow wells coupled with the installation of solar pumping systems including additional water collection points, and 3) water trucking and provision of additional water tank in IDP sites and as a transitional period in Al Matar Al Qadeem including water quality monitoring. Towards building critical nexus with Nutrition needs, any existing OTP centres in these areas will be served with clean water too. Hygiene Promotion (HP) will focus on behavior change towards waste handling and disposal as well as on safe water handling and storage. Hygiene kits will be distributed in IDP sites thanks to UNICEF in-kind contribution. In terms of sanitation, SI will facilitate the creation or reactivation of Water Management Committees and support the Cleaning Fund (local authority in charge of the waste management) to carry out solid waste collection and disposal, coupled with cleaning campaigns through cash. Finally, SI will facilitate critical repairs to broken sewers through working with the Local Water and Sanitation Corporation (LWSC).

Sanitation will be improved through latrine construction and solid waste collection and disposal. Sanitation kits will be distributed to persons with disabilities to ensure their significant access to dignified sanitation service.

Already strongly present in Taiz Governorate, with unique access to the most affected populations and the capacity to adapt to evolving needs, SI will bring its recognized WaSH expertise and experience and actively contribute to and scale-up the lifesaving humanitarian assistance in the targeted.