Violent riots over the last decades caused many people to flee. More than 80,000 sought protection as internally displaced people in other parts of Karen State. With the hope of an imminent end to the conflict, it is expected, that many refugees return to their homeland. This will aggravate the precarious situation in the communities which accommodate the refugees even more. To improve living conditions and the state of health of more than 12,600 people in our project area, arche noVa launches a three-year project in cooperation with the Johanniter Unfallhilfe and four other local partner organizations.
Five health centers are being built and equipped in our project area, where 40% of the population has no access to health care. Treatments for diseases will be provided there as well as preventive health care. Furthermore we found health committees in each of our 39 project villages and educate them in the fields of disease prevention and first aid. As save water and proper hygiene are an important contribution to prevent diseases, we vindicate water supply systems, construct latrines and implement hygiene promotions.
Another problem is permanent food shortage, many children suffer from chronic malnutrition.
In new training centers farmers are trained by local experts in innovative cultivation methods, organic farming and in production of biofertilizer to achieve higher crop yields in the future and to secure the food supply all year long.
The multisectoral project will be completed by workshops on topics such as environmental protection, land law and conflict management. The people will be motivated to actively participate in civil society and politics. In conjunction with all of the other measures the workshops aim to re-establish the people’s confidence in the peace process.
