WASH Cluster Minutes of Meeting Meeting held on: 20 January 2021 At: Field focused discussion for GCA areas - Zoom call Chaired by: Stas Dymkovskyy, WASH (IM) Officer Cluster web-page: https://www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/operations/ukraine/water-sanitation- and-hygiene Agenda 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Progress on actions from last meeting 3. Updates • from WASH Cluster partners (especially any coordination issues) • from the WASH Cluster 4. Results of WASH Cluster Evaluation 5. WASH Cluster Training 6. AOB Review of actions # Action Who Progress 1 Share the list of hospices for elderly people, where Proliska Done hygiene needs are 2 Organize Advocacy working group: WASH Cluster Done, UNHCR should be Add NRC and UNHCR to Advocacy working group included 3 UNICEF - Links to Tik-Tok and URCS Hygiene video can be UNICEF, URCS Done shared with WASH Cluster partners. 4 If any needs for 180 HKs are apparent please inform IOM. Partners No longer relevant 5 Share the assessment from Popasna rajon. PIN Done 6 share the results of assessment of water quality PIN In progress 7 NRC to share Hygiene Promotion materials NRC Done 8 Circulate draft transition plan for comments. WASH Cluster Done 9 Circulate a short survey to ask agencies what their training WASH Cluster Done priorities might be. 1. Updates from Partners UNICEF: during recent stoppage of water suppyling from Horlivka FS #2 to Toretsk, UNICEF distributed 840 bottles (5 liters each) of drinking water to Toretsk, to the Healthcare Facilities (HCFs). Secondly an MoU with Lysychansk Vodocanal will be signed soon. Also UNICEF has prepared a plan for distribution of 1500 HK for families and education facilities. In GCA areas. UNICEF plans to cover 74 schools and 188 KGs, with distribution of hygiene kits, lists of institutions were already received. 1000 HKs will be distributed to HCFs, as well as trolleys. Distribution will start in a few weeks. Action Point: UNICEF needs to ensure coordination of new locations. Please make sure this info is included as “planned” in the 5W database. UNICEF has several projects also in Mariupol: Booster pumping station in Mariupol - installation of pumping equipment. 38 000 people will benefit. Work has begun on the replacement of 2 km of the 400mm Sarntan water conduit. A project has begun to replace the emergency section of the water conduit with a 1000 mm polymer sleeve. Project will begin after receiving Permission from GASK; The GIS project continues in Mariupol. Two projects of Selidovo are ongoing: replacement of pipes of the Kotlyarevsky water conduit 300mm 2km and a new power supply line for sewage pumping station -3. It is also planned to supply pipes / fittings for the Volnovakha, Vuhledar and Selidovo water utilities. IOM: in collaboration with HCF 15 (in-patient treatment) IOM has distributedof Hygiene Kits, and the same institutions will also be covered with diapers distributions. Special bedridden kits will be delivered via the hospitals. IOM continues its support to social institutions with hygiene and diapers. All activities are included in the 5W database. Some equipment IOM distribute to Health and Social Institutions: washing machines, disinfection stations, etc.. PIN: continues its project with UNICEF – rehabilitation of decentralized water systems in Bakhmutskiy and Poposnyanskiy rajons (10 settlements in total). HKs distribution was completed in December. New project will be coordinated with the cluster. Advocacy component will be PIN’s focus this year. AP: Share WASH Cluster long-term and ongoing issues database with all. ADRA: has two projects with UNICEF – decentralized water systems in Donetsk oblast. Progress - 6 boreholes and 3 wells were cleaned and wooden equipment was installed. Two water towers were installed and three more are planned. 21 km of pipes were delivered. The second project is the ongoing distribution of drinking water to 11 points. This activity finished in April. Hand sanitizers were procured to EDU facilities, next week ADRA will start the distribution. AP: check if water trucking has resumed or not. Or is there now a gap in areas near the LoC? PUI: continues support of 15 HCFs with drinking water, sodium hypochlorite and waste-management items. NRC: NRC has ongoing hygiene sessions, now online. Hygiene trainings to beneficiaries: so far NRC reached nearly 20,000 beneficiaries. Installation of sanitizers in Avdiivka and Stanitsa-Luhanska. Under UHF, together with MDM, NRC will make rehabilitation of WASH facilities in 10 HCF. All activities were included into 5W database. Caritas: has two WASH projects one is engineering works in 5 locations and distribution of hygiene promotion materials for 600 people(in Donetsk Oblast). Another project is distribution of 300 family HK and distribution of promotion materials for 9,000 people. TGH: The e-voucher project was completed in mid-January; Distribution of vouchers to 5436 HHs completed. Additional distribution to 15 HCFs, 3 education facilities and 13 foster families was completed. URCS: all the results are in 5W form, activities are completed in 2020. No plans for 2021 so far. ICRC (attending the WASH cluster as an observer): ICRC continues monitoring of situation with water supply in Luhansk GCA and NGCA, and continues support to PVK with chemicals. Slovyansk office: during water stoppages from Horlivka FS#2 to Toretsk, ICRC provided fuel to Chasiv-Yar department of Voda Donbassa: donation of water tanks to Toretsk is under consideration. Support to Vodyane village with a pipe connection is under consideration. 2 ASB: in 2021 ASB continue its activities, distribution of hygiene kits near the LoC as well as cash for Hygiene for 8 months until June. UNDP: doesn’t have direct WASH activities, only support to prevention of COVID-19 with distribution of 7 high pressure pumps to SESU in Mariupol. In Luhansk UNDP provided 2 high pressure pumps, 60 gas respirators, etc. New Way – continues working with de-centralized water systems (UNICEF funding) – one-year project; finalizing small projects, which include support COVID-19. 32 EDU facilities in Toretsk rajon received kits for cleaning. New Way is providing a Training of Trainers (TOT) to teachers, in Hygiene Promotion. OCHA – thanks to WASH Cluster for coordinating actions in the field. AP: Proliska to share needs in Hospitals with everyone. Needs of COVID hospital in Semenivka 3. Update from WASH Cluster Voda Donbasa continues to face risks due to possible management restructure in NGCA areas. This would impact provision of clean water, threatening water supply for Mariupol, Volnovakha and Pokrovsk. However the potential increased expenditure needed by the defacto authorities might also cause problems in Non- Government Controlled Areas (NGCA). Likewise the safe operation of Donetsk Filter Station would be a concern to all, if workers there were suddenly not included in Voda Donbasa. The WASH Cluster is advocating for all sides to receive full information from the audits facilitated by ICRC and to discuss options in Minsk. Popasnianskyi Vodakanal continue to supply water across the LoC, however tariff changes were still not agreed. In reality tariff increases were needed because the defacto authorities reduced the amount of water they use from the Western Filter Station and from Petrovskyi. The Handwashing Working Group met in late 2020 and discussed advantages and disadvantages of handwashing stations versus Hand Sanitizer points. In general Sanitizer points are preferred in urban areas since: • They avoid cold hands in winter (so people are more likely to use them) • They are quick to use, avoiding queues which could lead to spread of COVID-19 • No mess with drainage, which can a particular problem in institutions which have sonetimes struggled to deal with waste water. However in rural areas, where drainage is easier, sometimes the handwashing stations (with water) are better, as they are more sustainable and cheaper to run in the medium term. Advocacy Working Group has met recently to discuss water quality. 5W and annual report – data is being collected and finalized so we can consider what we achieved in 2020. This will also be discussed in future meetings as a kind of After Action Review of the WASH Cluster’s COVID- 19 response in 2020. Transition of the Cluster (we will discuss in Kyiv meeting on 27th January)…but in basic terms there is no significant change planned at the moment. The WASH Cluster is happy to keep an eye on what value we deliver and we fully accept that if there is no need for the cluster, or when local authorities can take over properly then this would be the overall target. Upcoming Needs Assessment Study (February, 6 months)…Volodia kalinin is leading on this issue. He will be contacting organisations to see who would like to participate in a small Steering Group. 3 WASH Cluster Evaluation for 2020 (CCPM): Basic concept: In December 2020 we received 19 replies compared to 16 last year (many thanks everyone!) UN, NGOs, INGOs, international organisations participated. Generally some very good comments: almost everyone seemed OK about the meeting frequency, the 5W tool, identification of gaps, standardized kits/guidelines etc. However, the basic idea is to learn what we can improve! Some examples of challenges are shown below. • Did your organization contribute to define the Cluster’s response plan? (Maybe we need to try to involve people more this year) • In your view, was the process for selecting projects for the UHF fair to all parties? (people understood the HRP project selection much better. It seems the criteria and the process for UHF are not so well understood) 4 • Has the Cluster agreed advocacy messages? (it seems the people in the Advocacy Working Group were really well informed…but we need to make sure we involve the wider group better, disseminating our reports and discussing them more widely). Other issues to consider inclyded a relatively low awareness om HIV/Aids issues compered to age, gender, etc.