59% per cent of the population in South Sudan does not have access to safe water, according to UNICEF. Dirty water, poor hygiene practices and a lack of sanitation significantly increases the risk of diseases like cholera and acute diarrhoea – the leading cause of death among children in the country. This crisis is compounded by extreme weather that causes frequent flooding, which contaminates water sources and adversely affects the availability of clean drinking water.
MENTOR is working with UNICEF and communities to implement a sustainable WASH programme in four counties of Eastern Equatoria State in the south of the country. This is improving access to water as well as hygiene and sanitation, building community capacity to sustain availability of clean drinking water, and preventing water- and food-borne diseases.
Over 12 months the programme has:
- provided access to clean water for 30,000 people
- rehabilitated 50 hand pump boreholes
- converted 3 hand pump boreholes into climate-resilient hand pumps
- provided clean water to 24 schools and health facilities
- trained 384 community water management committees
- trained 129 hand pump mechanics
- reached 38,000 people with community led total sanitation (CLTS)
- communities built 2,221 latrines in response to CLTS to stop practice of open defecation
- reached 95,000 people with hygiene messaging
- trained 121 community-based hygiene promoters
- reached 1,135 female students with menstrual hygiene messaging and menstrual hygiene kits
- trained 155 school health clubs