This site has a wealth of resources for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practitioners collected by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Although the focus is on WASH resources for emergencies, many of the field tools and resources are also applicable in non-emergency situations. Of special interest are the WASH information, education materials (IEC) materials, which are made accessible by topic and regions.
This document sets out WaterAid’s framework for hygiene promotion and behaviour change in the countries where it works. It will also help organisations that work on hygiene in the context of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes. WaterAid has developed similar frameworks for sanitation and menstrual hygiene.
The framework’s structure is as follows:
WaterAid, 2012. Hygiene framework. WaterAid, London, UK. 56 p. : 9 fig., 1 tab., photogr. Includes glossary and references. Available at: http://washurl.net/6fyfgy
Menstrual hygiene is fundamental to the dignity and wellbeing of women and girls and an important part of the basic hygiene, sanitation and reproductive health services. However, menstruation is too often taboo, and has many negative cultural attitudes associated with it, including the idea that menstruating women and girls are ‘contaminated’, ‘dirty’ and ‘impure’.
This resource kit provides modules and toolkits on improving menstrual hygiene for women and girls in lower and middle-income countries. It covers key aspects of menstrual hygiene in different settings, including communities, schools and emergencies.
The resource kit brings together examples of good menstrual hygiene practice from around the world.
The nine modules and accompanying toolkits, cover the following topics:
House, S., Mahon, T. and Cavill, S., 2012. Menstrual hygiene matters : a resource for improving menstrual hygiene around the world. [online] London, UK: WaterAid. 347 p.; ill.; tab.; fig.; boxes
Available at: <http://washurl.net/5iyh2e>
Posted in Advocacy, Emergencies, Gender, Hygiene promotion, Monitoring & evaluation, Publications
Tagged menstrual hygiene, schools
This study reviews published literature describing the impact of water, sanitation and hygiene on maternal health and mortality.
Two studies showed significant correlations between increased access to water and sanitation and reductions in maternal mortality. Specific evidence was found relating to the impact of water carrying and water and sanitation-related infections on pregnant women, and to the impact of hygiene during and after delivery.
However, relatively few high quality studies were found on the basis of which generalisations can be made about the specific linkages between water, sanitation and hygiene on the one hand and maternal health on the other.
There was much more literature on the impact of hygienic practices during delivery on neonatal mortality. Clean delivery procedures are key to preventing neonatal deaths. Unhygienic practices during delivery that cause death of the newborn baby are also likely to have an impact on the health of the mother.
Even though it is clear how important is for mothers to have access to safe water, sanitation and clean birthing, they often have little influence on expenditures and decisions that would improve these services.
The study suggests that the educational/promotional aspects relating to WASH and (maternal and newborn) health should be improved and addressed from pregnancy up to child care. Similarly, health centres and hospitals should have running water, clean toilets, safe refuse disposal, clean beds and areas for deliveries. Consistent hygiene in clinics and hospitals should be ensured. More high-quality research is needed on the linkages between WASH and maternal health in the context of low-income countries.
Shordt, K., Smet, E. and Herschderfer, K. 2012. Getting it right : improving maternal health through water, sanitation & hygiene. Haarlem, The Netherlands: Simavi. ii, 31 p. : 3 fig., photogr. 98 ref. Available at: <www.simavi.nl/assets/Uploads/Simavi-Publicatie_Getting-It-Right.pdf>
SWASH+ is an action-research and advocacy project focused on increasing the scale, impact and sustainability of school water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions in Kenya. Since September 2006, SWASH+ has collaborated with teachers and students in 185 primary schools in four districts in Nyanza Province, Kenya to identify challenges and analyze innovative solutions for sustaining school WASH. The project’s randomized controlled trials and numerous sub-studies have resulted in a compendium of research publications, one-page research summaries, stories from the field, photo essays and short films. They have been made available on this dedicated project website.
The partners that form the SWASH+ consortium are CARE, Emory University, the Great Lakes University of Kisumu, the government of Kenya, andWater.org. SWASH+ is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Water Challenge. The SWASH+ website is created and hosted by the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre.
Website: www.washinschools.info/home/swash
This report reviews the potential of mobile phones to improve governance in the development sector – a field termed “mobile phone for development” or M4D – with a special emphasis on the water, sanitation, and hygiene or WASH sector.
In particular, it focuses on “information interventions”: mobile phone usage for real-time, broad-based data collection and dissemination among and by multiple agents of change. Such information interventions are used not only to resolve immediate, short-term issues, but to facilitate the flow of information necessary for long term planning, monitoring, policy-making, and governance.
The report reviews the aspects of mobile phone solution design that impact the effectiveness of an information intervention.
It reviews ten selected organisations and their mobile phone projects in depth to determine whether there are broad-based lessons to be drawn from their experiences of system development and implementation.
Finally, the report summarises lessons that can be used by implementers of general M4D projects, as well as mWASH projects (author abstract).
Read a Pacific Institute press release about the report.
The report’s publishers, the Pacific Institute and Nexleaf Analytics, are using the findings for their project to build the open-source WASH SMS System. This system, which they are piloting in Indonesia, uses mobile phones and email to develop crowd-sourced map data to improve water and sanitation services for the urban poor.
Hutchings, M.T. et al., 2012. mWASH: mobile phone applications for the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector. Oakland, CA, USA: Pacific Institute and Los Angeles, CA, USA: Nexleaf Analytics. 114 p. : 12 fig., 4 tab. 95 ref. Available at: <http://www.pacinst.org/reports/mwash/full_report.pdf> [Accessed 18 May 2012]
This daily newsletter brings you the latest news items, videos and publications spotted by sanitation experts. It extracts news from web links in Twitter messages and news feeds and groups the news headlines under self-generated headings.
The main source for E-Source Sanitation News is the Sanitation Updates Twitter list, which follows nearly 50 Twitter accounts.
If you have a Twitter account and would like to contribute to the newsletter, include the hashtags #sanitation or #hygiene in your Tweets.
E-Source Sanitation News is created automatically in paper.li. Other related newsletters on this free platform include: Daily WASH,WaterAid Daily and toilet.and.tap.
To subscribe to E-Source Sanitation News or to embed it in your web site go to:
paper.li/dietvorst/1307204592
Posted in Hygiene promotion, News services, Sanitation
The ICTC has launched a new web site, created by the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) at The Task Force for Global Health, Atlanta, GA. Trachoma is estimated to be endemic in 57 countries and is responsible for 1.3 million cases of blindness worldwide. The ICTC advocates for the implementation of the WHO-endorsed SAFE strategy to eliminate blinding trachoma. The maps (nearly all from Africa) on the website show where SAFE — Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness and Environmental improvement (clean water and sanitation) — is being implemented.
Ethiopian man blinded by advanced trachoma. Photo: International Trachoma Initiative
The site includes background information on the disease and a list of resources.
It complements the Trachoma Atlas at www.trachomaatlas.org, which has country maps with population-based prevalence data on trachoma. Both websites are open-access, and the maps are free. They are intended for public health professionals and managers of trachoma control programs as well as the general public interested in learning about the disease.
Web site: www.trachomacoalition.org
Bery, R.; Rosenbaum, J. (2010). How to integrate water, sanitation and hygiene into HIV programmes. Geneva, Switzerland, World Health Organization (WHO). 113 p. : 5 boxes, 7 tab. Bibliography: p. 59-70. – Includes glossary
ISBN 978-92-4-154801-4
Download full report
This document integrates Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practices into HIV care. It draws on experiences from the USAID-funded Hygiene Improvement Project (USAID/HIP) . It contains guidance on implementing priority WASH practices, including WASH in global and national HIV/AIDS policy and guidance, and integrating WASH–HIV programmes.
Chapter 1 provides an overview of the document and some background on the evidence of the importance of WASH, the burden of unsafe water and sanitation, and effective WASH practices.
Chapter 2 provides guidance on the WASH practices that national HIV/AIDS programmes should implement as a priority, and outlines a recommended approach for improving WASH practices. The chapter includes detailed
descriptions of recommended practices such as steps for hand washing, strategies for treating water and methods of food handling.
Chapter 3 describes steps to integrate WASH into key HIV-related reference documents such as policies, guidelines and handbooks, on a national and global level.
Chapter 4 provides examples of specific language that can be used to modify HIV/AIDS policies and related materials, using safe drinking water as an example.
Chapter 5 presents interventions that could be considered for programme approaches for WASH–HIV integration, depending on local priorities and resources. The chapter includes practical case studies to provide snapshots of the types of integrated HIV–WASH interventions that different programmes are trying in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Viet Nam.
The annexes provide practical tools that can be adapted to the local context, and more detailed descriptions of the evidence and literature on WASH and HIV.
Parry, J. Kathy Shordt, K., Cousineau, D. and Wicken, J. (eds) (2010). Sharing experiences : effective hygiene promotion in South-East Asia and the Pacific. Mitcham, Vic,. Australia, Water Aid Austrakia ; Brisbane, Qld, Australia, International WaterCentre (IWC) ; The Hague, The Netherlands, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre. 74 p. : boxes, fig. photogr., tab. ISBN 978-1-921499-03-6. Download document in full and by chapter.
This publication searches for answers to the question: What makes hygiene promotion work? The search is guided by two keynote papers and 11 project case studies. Each of the case studies examines hygiene promotion from its own perspective, ranging from large national campaigns to remote island communities. The majority of case studies describe experiences in the Pacific and South-East Asia, while a few highlight different approaches and issues from other regions. The case studies are grouped according to the three main
approaches to hygiene promotion: community-based approaches, campaign approaches and a school focus. Key learnings from the 11 case studies are presented using the FOAMS model for behaviour change:
F: Focus practices and focus groups;
O: Opportunities to practice the behaviour
A: Ability to practice
M: Motivation to practice
S: Sustained behaviour change
Listen below to the key lessons from the book
