Africa AHEAD has teamed up with UNICEF to increase public awareness around COVID-19 and promote hand washing and other hygienic practices to curb the spread of the virus and other diarrheal related diseases.

The project is an extension of the COVID-19 Preparedness and Response Project implemented by Africa AHEAD (AA) and Moriti-oa-Sechaba with support from UNICEF in the City of Bulawayo between April and September 2020 with activities implemented in Luveve and Cowdray Park.

At the end of the project in September and on the back of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, it was realized that there still exists gaps in terms of COVID-19 awareness and water, sanitation and health (WASH) interventions in the City, therefore an extension of the UNICEF COVID-19 PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE PROJECT was granted under the auspices of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and will be implemented across the City but with major interventions in Cowdray Park.

The project will focus on improving awareness amongst the population on the importance of hand-washing with soap and ‘respiratory hygiene’ with a focus on community engagement, participatory health and hygiene education (PHHE) to debunk myths and rumors about COVID-19.

This will see the provision of access to critical hand-washing facilities including alcohol-based sanitizers, WASH-related hygiene kits, prioritising the ports of entry, and schools with emergency WASH supplies.

Bulawayo is the country’s second largest city and is one of the country’s major transit routes for both local in-country traffic and regional traffic from South Africa, the DRC, Zambia, Botswana etc. The high volumes of traffic through the city, largely related to economic and social cross-border activities pose a major risk to locals in terms of the transmission of the COVID-19 virus in addition to other existing vulnerabilities.

Currently Bulawayo has recorded the 2nd highest COVID-19 case incidence per capita (337 cases per 100 000 people) in the country.

Under the extension grant the project has three main results with associated activities outlined as follows:

Result Area Output 1

Improved access to WASH facilities in affected areas

Activities

• Establishment of 22 x 85l hand washing stations (HWS)at public places to increase positive hand washing practice HWS (includes installation & fabrication of stand on site).
• Provision of PPE to 90 volunteers including hand sanitizers.
• Volunteers-Community health workers and COVID-19 task forces teams at community level.

Result Area Output 2:

Communities have increased access to accurate, timely and appropriate information to reduce the possible spread of the COVID-19 and diarrheal diseases

Activities

• Identification and training of 40 Community Health Workers/volunteers on COVID-19.t
• Support for the revival of 40 health clubs (25 members per Club). Support includes monitoring visits, procurement of membership cards, visibility materials (bibs, sun hats), provision of 40 volunteer transport, lunch and refreshments for 9 months
• Procurement and distribution of 1500 hygiene kits (comprising of 1x20l bucket, 1x25l Jerry can, 2 bars of soap, HH water treatment). Post distribution monitoring for NFIs to done by AA’s MEAL team.

Result Area Output 3

Communities have increased access to safe water

Activities

• Repair of 35 Boreholes
• Pump Minder (PM) refresher training
• Refresher training for 35 Water Point Management Committees (WPMC)
• Rehabilitation of 5 x Mini-Piped Water Schemes
• Refresher training for 14 EHPs on Water Quality Monitoring (WQM)
• Training on Water Safety and Security Plans (WSSP) and development of WSSPs

BUDGET SUMMARY

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