Supporting the reduction of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in Ghazni, Parwan and Badakhshan provinces Afghanistan continues to be in a protracted and complex emergency situation with multifaceted conflicts and recurrent natural disasters. As a result, most communities have low resilience and high vulnerability. At the onset of a shock, vulnerable populations often fall into a state of acute emergency, and need urgent support to meet their immediate basic needs. Large scale and sudden displacements often undermine the capacity of relief agencies to act quickly as they lack the necessary supplies to distribute on an immediate basis. With the support from UNOCHA’s 3rd Reserve Allocation, DACAAR will address prioritized humanitarian needs by providing life-saving humanitarian WASH assistance in 41 prioritized districts of three provinces: Badakhshan, Ghazni and Parwan. The total target population is 45,195 individuals with 21% in Badakhshan, 51% in Ghazni and 28% in Parwan. The target districts were prioritized by the Nutrition Cluster (UNICEF) because those districts have a high prevalence of GAM and SAM. The list of districts per province is attached, as well as the nutrition data. The WASH and Nutrition Clusters, UNOCHA and DACAAR, agree with the growing evidence indicating that access to safe drinking-water, sanitation, and hygiene services has an important positive impact on nutrition, and that 50% of undernutrition is associated with infections caused by poor water, sanitation and hygiene, according to WHO. 

DACAAR will procure, stockpile and distribute the following items: 15,065 hygiene kits and 30,130 consumables, all according to WASH Cluster standards. Procurement is made in bulk using UNOCHA-endorsed procurement procedures. Strong internal control mechanisms will be applied. DACAAR will rent one warehouse in each province (total of 3) and make sure all items are readily available for distribution. After procuring and stockpiling DACAAR will distribute the items, alongside hygiene promotion. The distribution will be coordinated with the Nutrition Partners, UNICEF and WFP.  Some remote areas in Badakhshan and Ghazni are not accessible during winter and other areas might be temporarily affected by heavy snow or flooding in Spring. DACAAR proposes a 6-month project period to complete this assignment, however should external factors such as inclement weather and insecurity and others cause delays in the delivery of the assistance, DACAAR will request a no-cost extension. Once the project is approved, While procurement takes place and to factor in possible delays, DACAAR will make use of limited remaining hygiene kits from previous AHF funded WASH stockpiling projects to expedite the response. 

Hygiene education is an integral part of every WASH intervention in order to reduce the risk of water-borne diseases by building the knowledge of safe hygiene behavior. 15,065 families will receive education on safe drinking water, adequate sanitation, safe food handling, personal and family hygiene. The teaching is supported with visual materials and hands-on exercises. Sessions are conducted separately for men and women and are carried out by DACAAR’s “Hygiene Promotion Couples”. The following topics are covered: cleanliness from the Islamic point of view personal and environmental hygiene practices food safety and re-hydration therapy in diarrhea safe and unsafe water sources water borne illnesses proper way of water storage filtration and treatment of unsafe water for washing and cleaning purposes open defecation and its effects on people proper hand washing practices and critical times, management of solid waste and human excreta. 

The target population is 15,065 families (105455 persons that include 45,195 SAM children) and there is a possibility that the demand is even higher or the need is more urgent in other communities.DACAAR will coordinate with the WASH Cluster, UNOCHA and other implementing partners, especially the Nutrition Partners, UNICEF and WFP, on any changes, according to local necessities.