CO-Aid  To Drought Affected Communities In line with the HIP 2022 priorities and considering the deteriorating drought in Somalia, Oxfam will focus on life-saving interventions which address the WASH needs of affected communities in Sool (Lasanood district).

The proposed action will seek to provide life saving support to 1400 vulnerable households through cash for water intervention. This will be done for at least 2 months to ensure that affected households have access to at least 7.5ltrs/per person per day.  This is an essential activity that will allow provision of clean water and adequate water for consumption at a household level.
The proposed interventions seek to address access to  sustainable water through the rehabilitation of existing water sources. Boreholes are the main sources of safe water in the target locations; however, most require rehabilitation and maintenance. This will lead to reduced cost of water (tariffs) and increase the number of water points to improve service delivery. The frequent breakdowns of boreholes result from the high concentration of people and livestock, leading to over-use and poor maintenance. Oxfam therefore proposes to rehabilitate and upgrade boreholes, shallow wells and berkards. Rehabilitation works will mainly include cleaning the borehole, replacement/upgrading or solarization of pumping equipment to reduce the cost of water, rehabilitation or construction of water tanks, main distribution pipe system, water kiosks and a generator/caretaker room. Solarized boreholes in Somalia have proven to be more sustainable as they require minimal maintenance and the cost of water is reduced significantly, making it affordable to the vulnerable populations.
Oxfam in collaboration with the line ministry (Ministry of Water Resources) in Somaliland will organize and facilitate trainings for Water Management Committees that will be responsible for management, operation, and maintenance of the water supplies. Communities and authorities will be engaged from the start in the site selection, upkeep, and maintenance to ensure a safe and sustainable handover.
Acess to water will be further enhanced through the construction of a Weir dam in the targeted locations. Rain water harvesting is not very common in Somalia andmost rain water is lost through run-off. Oxfam proposes the construction of the dam to ensure that rain water is harvested for future use especially for houehold chores and livestock consumption.
To facilitate the adoption of good hygiene behaviour to counter diarrheal diseases as well as COVID-19 at the household level, Oxfam will provide 1200 households with hygiene kits.WASH Cluster standard, hygiene kits consist of soap (8100gm), jerry cans (2No.) and water treatment tablets (100 No.). The soap and the water treatmenttablets are estimated to last for 3 months while the jerry cans will last longer. To promote menstrual hygiene, improve girls’ school attendance and women’s participation in activities regardless of their menstrual cycle, the action will provide most vulnerable women and girls with Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) kits (in-kind) containing of 4 pieces of re-usable sanitary pads, 3 underwear,skirt,touch and carrying bag.

Oxfam will further prioritize underserved areas with populations recently displaced by drought as main locations for the construction of latrines, which will be designed, and specific locations selected in consultation with women and girls from the affected community. Latrines are required as rains will push the remains of excrements of open defecation into berkards and shallow wells, thereby contaminating the few water sources available to communities. Trained Community Hygiene/Health Promoters and Volunteers (CHPs, CHVs) will roll out the hygiene awareness raising campaigns. Approaches used for hygiene promotion include door-to-door visits, especially to households hosting at risk beneficiaries such as malnourished young children, sick, elderly, malnourished pregnant .