Garowe, Puntland, Somalia, 25 September 2017 –UNICEF is providing access to safe and dignified sanitation to 3,600 people in the Jawle camp for the internally displaced in Puntland, north east Somalia.
There were few usable toilets in Jawle camp so residents were forced to defecate in the open. The shallow wells used for drinking water became contaminated with faeces which led to an outbreak of Acute Watery Diarrhea (AWD) at the camp, affecting 300 people a week at its peak.
In partnership with the Norwegian Refugee Council and in coordination with the Puntland Ministry of Health, municipal authorities, camp authorities and community leaders, UNICEF constructed 50 new twin latrines and desludged 80 others including 20 which were also rehabilitated. The project, with support from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) therefore provided a total of 180 communal latrines to those in the camp who include some displaced by the current drought.
At the same time hygiene kits including soap and water purification tablets were distributed to 500 households and 40 hygiene promoters provided essential information to the community. UNICEF along with the Ministry of Health scaled up this activity by distributing hygiene kits along with hygiene promotion and a media campaign targeting another 3700 households in a joint WASH-Health response to the Acute Watery Diarrhoea outbreak.
This initiative complements another UNICEF project being implemented with the Puntland State Agency for Water, Energy and Natural Resources (PSAWEN). This will bring access to piped water to 48,000 people including the local community and IDPs in Jawle and Jilab 2 camps.
“Those who have been internally displaced in Somalia are among the most vulnerable in the country. We have a duty to ensure families and children have access to clean, uncontaminated water and that they retain their dignity. These 180 latrines is an important step forward and we will continue to work to improve conditions in the camps,” said UNICEF Somalia Representative Steven Lauwerier.
