Enhancing Protective Environment and Increasing Access to Emergency WASH Services for Conflict and Drought Affected People in Fafan, Siti, Afder,and Jarar Zones, Somali Region Somali Region continues to host one of the largest IDP populations in the country, with many who have faced multiple waves of displacement or remain in protracted displacement. Throughout 2021, conflict reignited along the Somali-Afar and the Somali-Oromia regional borders, resulting in new waves of displacement, largely along ethnic lines. The humanitarian situation in the region further deteriorated due to the severe impact of drought after the failed rain for three consecutive seasons. According to DTM round 27, there are an estimated 871,176 IDPs (142,671 households) identified in the Somali region across 427 sites, where conflict and drought are the top two main reasons for displacement with an estimated number of 506,089 IDPs (58.1%) and 266,013 IDPs (30.5%) respectively. Round 27 saw an increase of 36,453 IDPs from round 26. 

Protection risks are rife in displacement areas, particularly for those facing secondary or repeated cycles of displacement. According to protection monitoring and recent assessments, the population has faced rights violations before, during, and after displacement, as well as the loss of household items and livelihoods opportunities, further exacerbating limited coping capacities. Many households have expressed high rates of trauma due to the violations they experienced in their areas of origin. Combined with the repeated patterns of displacement, many of the displaced people have expressed their intention not to return to their areas of origin, thus heightening the need for durable solutions and social cohesion efforts to be integrated into the protection response.

Due to the effects of the drought in the Somali region, there exists an increased need for a sizeable WASH intervention to ensure that minimum lifesaving humanitarian standards are maintained for the affected population. Providing improved and safe WASH services to affected populations remains a top priority for the 2022 first reserve allocation. The locations and activities considered for this WASH proposal are in line with the reserve allocations’ prioritization list to address the immediate and life-saving needs of drought-affected communities in the Somali region. The actions will contribute to the priority one objective “Provision of critical life-saving emergency services to vulnerable people affected by the drought in Somali, Oromia, and SNNP regions”.

Through the proposed protection interventions, DRC seeks to combine its strengths, capacities, and presence to implement a project aimed at providing protection and WASH assistance for people displaced due to conflict and drought. The proposed intervention will build upon DRC’s existing programming in the targeted areas extending protection monitoring, information dissemination, and protection response through IPA, PSS, and provision of information or referrals to access key rights, including civil documentation under the protection component. Furthermore, the project aims to enhance the protection, health, and well-being of the drought-affected population through improving water and sanitation infrastructure in target communities and providing an all-inclusive WASH service that combines hygiene promotion, sanitation, and water access with sustainability efforts through construction and rehabilitation of water sources, construction of sanitation facilities, and solid waste management, training of community hygiene volunteer (CHVs), awareness-raising sessions, and strengthen management capacities of community water-management committees (WMCs) to encourage local ownership. The project will directly reach 62,590 people through protection and emergency WASH services.

The project strategy considers the needs and concerns of all vulnerable groups by preventing and mitigating protection risks. Protection concerns will be reflected in the assessment, design, implementation, and monitoring of WASH activities