Provision of  life-saving emergency WASH assistance to flood-affected communities Jowhar district of Middle Shabelle Somalia Flood triggered displacement is on the rise in Middle Shebelle, with new areas engulfed by floods water during the wet season every day. The displaced population is fleeing to high grounds leaving behind household assets completely submerged by water. Safe locations hosting displaced populations lack basic services including safe drinking water and sanitation services. The impact of this is a high incidence of water-borne diseases, growing protection concerns faced by women and girls, conflict activated by sharing of scarce resources and denying the right to access service subjected to people with disabilities, minority groups, and elderly people.

In this context, PAH will implement a WASH cluster-specific intervention aiming to 1) deliver life-saving WASH assistance to reduce acute need among the vulnerable settlement and communities 2) reduce risk of violence against women, children and vulnerable groups accessing WASH services 3) provide or restore sustainable access to safe water and adequate sanitation services in the targeted communities and institutions.

Floods affected population is farming communities who rely on farming as the main source of livelihood to provide them with income and promote the local economy. PAH has conducted market analysis to assess the capacity of local markets to provide needed WASH items and determine the preference of the affected population. Most interviewed households preferred to be engaged in latrines construction. Based on market capacity and community preference, and building on its previous experience, PAH will construct emergency latrines through cash for work approach selecting skilled individuals from the target population and sourcing construction materials from local vendors pre-identified during the market analysis.


To reduce the negative impact of risky practices and minimize the risk of disease outbreak hygiene kits will be provided to displaced families. The content of the kits will meet cluster standards but will be topped-up with mosquito nets to protect children, pregnant women and elderly persons from malaria. Community-based hygiene promoters will be trained and WASH committees established to promote safe practices.

PAH will implement these activities in the Jowhar district of the Middle Shebelle region. Approximately 13,890 people from 2315 HHs (households) will benefit from this intervention. PAH is one of the main WASH actors fully present in Middle Shebelle implementing emergency and resilience WASH activities in Jowhar and has easy access to crisis-affected locations. PAH is already responding to the flood crisis in Jowhar and is providing lifesaving WASH services including safe water and hygiene kits to 768 displaced people. To address malnutrition PAH is providing 2 months unrestricted cash transfer to 400 most vulnerable families who have lost crops and have malnourished household members. However, the increasing risks and absence of WASH services require immediate scale-up to avert further displacement and disease outbreak. Moreover, PAH will create synergies for improved coordination among WASH stakeholders in the area, including local authorities, clusters, and other NGOs.