Provision of WASH services to prevent malnutrition and WASH related Gender Based Violence through access to safe water, dignified sanitation facilities, NFI distribution and hygiene education and promotion to  host community and returnees in Panyijar County in Unity state Through this program, Mercy Corps will implement strategic WASH interventions in the proposed County in order to reduce acute vulnerabilities of SAM and MAM, while also addressing immediate WASH needs and preventable diseases, including cholera and Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD). We will do so while prioritizing gender based violence (GBV) risk mitigation in all aspects of programming. Mercy Corps will aggressively target households with children under the age of five and pregnant and lactating women (PLW) who are admitted to health/nutrition centers for SAM and MAM in functional outpatient therapeutic programs (OTPs) in target communities. Mercy Corps will also prioritize WASH activities in communities identified by local protection agencies as GBV hotspots. In order to mitigate GBV risk in these communities, the WASH program will closely collaborate and coordinate with MC’s Child Protection Program to enhance the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable adolescent girls through Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) education inclusive of MHM kit distribution and community awareness raising activities on GBV risk mitigation, prevention. To ensure safe access to WASH facilities in target areas, Mercy Corps will prioritize the repair and rehabilitation of water points/boreholes and sanitation facilities surrounding schools, and at the community level. Under the proposed intervention, Mercy Corps team will respond to immediate public health risks such as Cholera or AWD outbreaks in the target area. The proposed project will target 18,000 individuals (4,860 women, 4,140 men, 4,680 girls, 4,320 boys) in  Panyijiar County.
The project activities will be as follows:

1. Rehabilitation of 10 water points in the community, at schools, women’s centers, and nutrition centers with OTPs in  Panyijiar coupled with water quality monitoring through bacteriological analysis of the water points before handing over to communities to ensure access to safe water supply.

2. Construction and rehabilitation of 10 sanitation facilities inclusive of handwashing at nutrition centers with OTPs/SC, women centers and schools to ensure dignified access to sanitation. MC will also construct special designed latrines for people with special needs including the elderly and those with disabilities.

3. Promotion of hygiene practices through information campaigns, door-to-door campaigns, group gatherings, school hygiene clubs, and information sharing at health clinics, nutrition centers, women’s centers, and adolescent girls’ centers for effective behavior change.

4. Distribution of WASH NFIs to mothers with children who have acute and severe malnutrition, child bearing women, and adolescent girls at schools and women centers coupled with reproductive health and menstrual hygiene messaging.
5. Integrated trainings for community hygiene promoters focused on nutrition, GBV, and health to ensure information dissemination and referral of malnutrition, GBV cases, and WASH-related diseases