Assisting the Vulnerable Conflict-Affected Communities in South Kordofan

The project began on July 1, 2018, and will run until June 30, 2019, with a total award of $1,500,000 USD. The project targets 98,046 individuals, including 23,748 IDPs, and aims to meet four objectives: increasing access to quality water supply, improving food security, meeting emergency needs through Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA), and improving livelihood opportunities. The project focuses on expanding key WASH and livelihood recovery interventions to the populations, addressing their immediate humanitarian needs while enhancing their adaptive capacity. Planned program activities include the rehabilitation of 37 non-functional hand pumps and the upgrading of four existing hand pumps into hybrid dual solar power systems. The water infrastructure activities will be complemented by hygiene promotion, including the training of 545 female community volunteers who will carry out community awareness raising activities in their community. The project also includes the construction of latrines through the Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach, given the high population density, the almost non-existent sanitation system, and the need to reduce open defecation. In addition, the project will support 360 households under a livelihoods restoration project with MPCA, and will establish Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to support households in saving cash. The security situation in South Kordofan State (SKS) has improved, with a ceasefire declared by the conflicting parties in January 2017. The improving security environment has reflected positively in the easing of access restrictions in hard-to-reach conflict-affected areas. Mercy Corps is building on the improving security environment to expand its programming to new areas, including Rashad, Abukershola, and Dallami. The project has made progress in the reporting period, with Mercy Corps completing a technical feasibility assessment of available water sources in the localities of Dalami and Rashad. The assessment identified 16 non-functional hand pumps in need of rehabilitation and four hand pumps which will be upgraded into mini water yards with hybrid dual power solar systems. Mercy Corps has begun the procurement of the spare parts required for the hand pumps and will begin the rehabilitation of the hand pumps in mid-November. In addition, Mercy Corps conducted a rapid assessment to gather basic information regarding the hygiene and sanitation conditions of the population in the target villages in Dalami and Rashad localities. This information will be used to inform the CLTS activities during the program. All the sanitation activities are scheduled to begin in November 2018. Mercy Corps also plans to support the WASH committees to conduct quarterly community-wide cleaning campaigns to remove waste at both communal and household levels. The project will also support the communities to move stagnant water to reduce the number of breeding sites and incidence of vector-borne diseases, focusing on market areas. Mercy Corps has begun the procurement of the donkey carts which will be used to transport garbage to the waste disposal sites in Rashad. The environmental health activities will begin in mid-November. In the sector of Agriculture and Food Security, Mercy Corps plans to distribute seeds using a restricted value voucher to support an estimated 3,800 conflict-affected farmers who already have access to land. Mercy Corps is scheduled to begin the registration and identification of the seed supplier in November, and the verification of the beneficiaries and distribution of seeds vouchers is scheduled to begin in December. The project also includes the distribution of multi-purpose cash assistance to 360 households, including 288 newly IDP households newly displaced from SPLM-N areas. Mercy Corps has begun gathering information related to IDPs (mainly newly arrived) and vulnerable host community members who will receive multi-purpose cash assistance. The full identification and verification of beneficiaries will be undertaken in accordance with clear targeting criteria.