Inter-Agency Standing Committee – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene cluster (WASH) for OPT – UNICEF Factsheet

IASC WASH Cluster for occupied Palestinian Territories

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Cluster

Following the request of the UN Country Team and humanitarian partners in the occupied Palestinian Territories, UNICEF has assumed its responsibility as the WASH Cluster Lead Agency.

The aim of the WASH Cluster is to strengthen the humanitarian response through partnership in order to achieve better prioritization of available resources. This will be achieved by clarifying the roles and responsibilities of the various WASH actors and by providing a clear focal point for emergency WASH interventions.

The WASH Cluster is committed to supporting the humanitarian community by ensuring the participation of all the key WASH partners, in planning, establishing and maintaining appropriate humanitarian coordination mechanisms, to ensure complementarity between all WASH actors. The WASH Cluster will ensure that activities are undertaken in conjunction with the national/local authorities and with existing WASH coordination platforms such as e–WASH.

The WASH Cluster is committed to fulfilling it’s responsibilities in line with the IASC guidelines, and to providing adequate reporting, information sharing and cross–Cluster coordination. In addition, as agreed in the IASC guidelines, UNICEF will be responsible as the “provider of last resort” for WASH services, subject to access, security and the availability of the necessary resources.

WASH Cluster Objectives

To facilitate the coordination among local, international and UN agencies active in Water and Sanitation sector in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and to enhance predictability, timeliness and efficiency of the WASH sector in meeting beneficiaries’ needs. The main objective of WASH Cluster personnel is to facilitate the provision of WASH services for those affected by conflict, occupation and natural events such as drought.

Role of the WASH Country Cluster Lead

The role of sector leads, as specified in the IASC Guidance Note, at the country level includes:

• Inclusion of key humanitarian partners

• Establishment & maintenance of appropriate humanitarian coordination mechanisms

• Coordination with national/local authorities, State institutions, local civil society and other relevant actors

• Participatory and community–based approaches

• Attention to priority cross–cutting issues (e.g. age, diversity, environment, gender, HIV/AIDS and human rights)

• Needs assessment and analysis

• Emergency preparedness, planning and strategy development

• Application of standards

• Monitoring and reporting

• Advocacy and resource mobilization

• Training and capacity building

• Provision of assistance or services as a last resort

Structure

The WASH Cluster Coordinator in conjunction with e–WASH Coordinator will arrange the necessary events for WASH actors, including meetings, Information Management, reporting, workshops and coordination with national authorities. Any organization working in the Water and Sanitation sector can join the group, as can donors, and other sector leads.

Meetings are weekly on Thursdays at 11h00 at Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) building in Ramallah, unless otherwise indicated.

WASH Cluster – Key Contacts

Tim Forster – WASH Cluster Coordinator

Mail: tforster@unicef.org

Mobile: +972 (0)54 7787682

Subha Grannam – eWASH Coordinator

Mail: subha@phg.org

Mobile: +972 (0)59–9644868

Ghassan Madieh – UNICEF WASH Officer

Mail: gmadieh@unicef.org

Mobile: +972 (0)59 8921835

Nina Odling – WASH Cluster IM

Mail: nodling@unicef.org

Mobile: +972 (0)54 77 87683