People in Need (PIN) has completed a 12-month, multisectoral response to help meet the acute needs of vulnerable communities in southern Ethiopia. Launched in April 2020, the project aided more than 100,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), returnees, and host communities in the West Guji and Gedeo Zones in the Oromia Region and the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). It was funded by the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the Czech Development Agency (CZDA).

The intervention addressed the regions’ acute water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs, as well as the extreme water insecurity of the local populations. Emergency shelter kits – including plastic sheets, ropes, and other materials – were provided for 3,110 vulnerable IDP and returnee households, reaching a total of 15,550 individuals. The same households received kitchen, mosquito, and bedding sets.

In addition, 2,900 households received WASH kits, which included bars of laundry and body soap, jerrycans, buckets, and wash basins; these items were intended to cover the households’ hygiene needs for three months.