Slideshow: Preparing for future hygiene scares in South Sudan
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- South Sudan
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- ACTED
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AKOBO, South Sudan [ACTED News] - ACTED opened its fourth base in South Sudan in October 2012 in the troubled state of Jonglei. Initially focusing their efforts in Akobo County, ACTED is implementing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) development projects funded by the United States Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). These include the provision of temporary employment to hundreds of families who would otherwise have no means of income.
These images show the eager workforce rehabilitating a drainage system and constructing rubbish bins for use in a waste management system. The volatility of the Jonglei context however means that ACTED needs to be flexible and reactive to sudden emergencies as well as contributing to the longer term capacity and resilience of the local community.
In February 2013, inter-community tension saw thousands of families displaced from Akobo West to the safety of Akobo Town. ACTED responded by leading an interagency assessment team to establish the humanitarian needs and is now working with the communities to facilitate the construction of household latrines to dramatically decrease the amount of disease spread through open defecation. ACTED is now looking forward to the next 12 months of activities and is pleased to be increasing its presence and emergency response capacity by stocking emergency WASH items in Akobo West for future emergencies.