Somalia - Emergency Health Nutrition Water and Sanitation Assistance - ACF 2019-2021

March 2019 - Decades of political instability have left Somalia facing a complex and protracted humanitarian crises with an estimated 4.2 million Somalis (35 percent of the population) expected to require humanitarian assistance in 2019. Some 2.6 million people have been forced from their homes with little or no access to basic services. Acute malnutrition rates remain near or above emergency thresholds particularly among displaced populations. Violence due to terrorist threats and multiple conflicts has made access a challenge in many regions hampering the ability of humanitarian workers to reach those in need. With GAC’s support Action Against Hunger (ACF) is providing assistance to address the urgent needs of around 41 000 conflict-displaced people and host communities in the remote and hard to access Bakool region of Somalia. This project focuses on helping provide support to health facilities treatment for acute malnutrition rehabilitation of water and sanitation facilities and cash to help meet basic needs. Project activities include: (1) training health workers on management of childhood illnesses; (2) providing of prenatal consultations to pregnant women and postnatal consultations to lactating women; (3) providing emergency water sanitation and hygiene supplies to people in vulnerable communities including internally-displaced people; and (4) constructing emergency latrines that meet the protective needs and privacy of women and girls.

The expected intermediate outcomes for this project include: (1) improved capacity of health workers to treat childhood illnesses; (2) increased access to sexual and reproductive care services including prenatal and postnatal care; (3) improved and safe access to water sanitation and hygiene services for internally-displaced people and host communities. The expected ultimate outcome is reduced suffering increased and maintained dignity and lives saved among vulnerable conflict- and drought-affected internally-displaced people and host communities with a focus on the specific needs of people living in Somaila's Bakool region.