The Emergency Repair of Water  Sanitation Facilities and Hygiene Promotion Project in Balkh Province The “Emergency Repair and Hygiene Promotion Project” will be implemented in Mazar and Chamtal districts of Balkh province. The project will be implemented in 20 villages in Mazar district, and 40 villages in Chemtal district. The project duration will be 10 months with a total budget of 566,067. The project will directly target 52,500 people in both districts and will indirectly target over 50,000 people through a local FM radio. As identified in the allocation strategy, Balkh is eligible for “Activity 3: WASH in GBV” and “Activity 4: WASH in ESNFI”. OAWCK will, therefore, be implementing Activity 3, and Activity 4 of the allocation strategy in Mazar and Chemtal districts of Balkh province. 

Balkh is one of the most affected provinces in terms of WASH needs. OAWCK conducted a detailed assessment and identified the key needs as 1) lack of clean drinking water - repairing and rehabilitation of existing systems as the local communities have no financial capacity to repair the existing collective water points which have been fully or partially damaged. 2) Protection: 80% of women and girls are responsible for carrying water which has exposed them to GBV/PSEA/Protection and health issues, 3) Upgrading WASH services in public spaces: the current WASH services in public spaces were not sufficient to meet the needs of the people referring to these public spaces, 4) Hygiene promotion: 85% people were unaware of hygiene, 85% people defecate in open space, 75% people use clay as a mean of cleaning after bathroom.

The assessment was conducted from May 2, 2022, to May 25, 2022, to understand the needs in-depth to design a needs-driven project. The assessment was conducted by a team of 8 members in 40 villages of Chemtal district and 20 villages in Mazar district. The WASH needs were extremely high in both Mazar and Chemtal districts. The project is designed to respond to the above needs of the target communities. The needs are also aligned to the allocation strategy to ensure that we not only respond to the critical needs of the communities, but also contribute to the overall objective of the WASH cluster, and the AHF/UNOCHA. 

The project activities will be: 

 Do an emergency repair (full repair) of 200 collective water points/boreholes/traditional water wells - targeting 35,000 people 
 Do an emergency repair (partial repair) of 100 collective water points/boreholes/traditional water wells - targeting 17,500 people
 Do an emergency repair of 70 latrines in public spaces such as public parks, schools, and hospitals - targeting 3,430 people
 Upgrading WASH services in 60 public spaces such as health facilities, schools, and community masjids (mosques) - targeting 6,000 people
 Forming and Training 60 WASH Committees - targeting 300 people 
 Distribute 5000 hygiene kits (to be acquired from WASH Core Pipeline) to 5000 households - targeting 35,000 people 
 Distribute 500 WASH kits to 500 SAM households - targeting 3,500 people
 Conduct 220 sessions on hygiene promotion, open defecation, and GBV Prevention - targeting 5,500 individuals 
 FM Radio Messages on GBV prevention, Hygiene promotion amp campaign against open defecation. Each message will be broadcasted 200 times - targeting nearly 50,000 people across Balkh province.

Note: 5 collective water points will be repaired in each of the 60 targeted villages to make it 300 water points in both districts.

OAWCK has been working in Balkh province since 2010 and has implemented projects with WASH components from LGCD from 2010 to 2012. OAWCK has an ongoing Community Cohesion Project with a WASH component funded by UNDP in Balkh province. Moreover, OAWCK has access, a good reputation, good relations with target communities, and local authorities, and is very familiar with the local context, cultural norms, and sensitivities which collectively will contribute to the successful implementation of this project