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Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Program

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are essential components of public health and are critical for ensuring access to safe and clean water, adequate sanitation facilities, and good hygiene practices. Globally, WASH is a critical component of efforts to promote public health and well-being, and is essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 6, which aims to ensure universal access to safe and affordable drinking water and sanitation for all. In the next five (5) years, CMD will exert efforts which include the construction and maintenance of water supply and sanitation infrastructure, such as wells, pumps, and latrines, as well as the promotion of good hygiene practices.

 

In South Sudan, about fifty-nine per cent (59%) of the population lacks access to equitable, digsnified safe water and basic sanitation facilities. To survive, families are usually forced to drink unsafe water as a coping mechanism, putting them at risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea, which remain the leading causes of death among children in South Sudan.

The situation is further aggravated by poor hygiene practices as only 15% of the population have access to improved sanitation. There are also people in urban areas (IDPs camps) who are vulnerable to WASH related deases outbreaks due to lack of access to safe water, including due to rising prices. Flood plain areas along the River Nile and Sobat River remain at high risk of waterborne and water-related diseases. Lack of access to safe water and sanitation pose specific protection risks for women.

The conflict in South Sudan has compounded the WASH needs of an already vulnerable population. It is estimated that only 7% of the population have access to improved sanitation, while 74% of the population practices open defecation (50% in urban areas and 79% in rural areas). The main drivers of vulnerabilities related to WASH are closely linked to the conflict and poor infrastructures. In conflict-affected areas existing WASH services outside PoCs sites (IDP camps) are inadequate to address the needs of IDPs and host communities and have been further overstretched by new arrivals. WASH infrastructure has been deliberately targeted by armed actors during the conflict. Based on the above, CMD will focus on the following goal and strategies:

Strategic Goal

“Improved health and socio-economic well-being of communities by reducing the incidence of water and sanitation-related diseases through instilling sustainable safe water, sanitation, and hygienic practices that enhance behavioral changes”.

Strategies

  1. Provision of safe water: Improve access to equitable, dignified and safe dringking water to the communities especially in the underserved hard to reach targeted areas

  2. Sanitation: Improve access to equitable, dignified and safe sanitation practices amonsgt the communities

  3. Hygiene promotion: Reduce risk of WASH related sickness in the communities through the provision of hygiene and health promotion services.

  4. Environmental stewardship and climate change mitigation: Reduce impact of environmental degradation that affect WASH in the targeted areas.

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