WASH in Schools e-debate results feed into key international working groups

From September to November 2012, IRC hosted three e-debates around topics inspired by the SWASH+ Project, an action-research school WASH project in Kenya.

The results from the debates have infiltrated key international working groups. These include the JMP Post-2015 Working Groups, the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) and the UNICEF WASH in schools working group.

The three e-debates attracted 27 participants who submitted 31 arguments in total.

The e-debate questions were:

• Are the JMP Post-2015 indicators on WASH in schools a step in the right direction?
• Does external funding for WASH in Schools undermine national & local commitment?
• Will local governments ever be able to meet policy obligations?

Read the full summary report at:  http://www.washinschools.info/page/2396

Will local governments ever be able to meet policy obligations for WASH in schools? Join the debate!

You are invited to join the 3rd and final e-debate on WASH in Schools, inspired by lessons from the SWASH+ Project.  It is taking place from 5-23 November at: http://washurl.net/fzute8

The focus on this last e-debate is on whether local governments will or will not be able to generate enough resources to meet their policy obligations for water supply, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools.

Under genuine decentralization, local government can meet their policy obligations says Senior Programme Officer Dr. V. Kurian Baby in his opening argument.   Ex-national coordinator Sanitation & Hygiene from UNICEF India Sumita Ganguly takes the opposite position, arguing that local government will not prioritize WASH in schools in a resource competitive environment.

Add you own arguments to this debate. For more information go to:
www.washinschools.info/page/2312

External funding for WASH in Schools does not necessarily undermine national & local commitment

A narrow majority of participants in an e-debate did not think that external funding for WASH in Schools undermines national and local commitment. From 1 – 12 October 2012, 15 participants discussed the issue of external funding in the second of three e-debates inspired by questions asked during the implementation of the SWASH+ Project, an action-research school WASH project in Kenya.

There were some interesting points that came out and the discussion ended with a score of seven that agreed that external funding for WASH in Schools undermines national and local commitment, while eight disagreed with the statement.

Does external funding for WASH in Schools undermine national and local commitment? Join the debate

You are invited to join the second in a series of three e-debates on WASH in Schools, inspired by lessons from the SWASH+ Project. It will take place from 1-5 October on  ircwash.createdebate.com

The key question that we are raising in this e-debate is:  When NGOs, donors and other stakeholders fund direct delivery of school WASH services do they undermine the commitment of national governments and communities to do so?

The JMP Post-2015 indicators on WASH in schools are a step in the right direction

The JMP Post-2015 Working Groups have proposed targets and indicators for WASH in schools to be included in future global monitoring of water, sanitation and hygiene. Have they got it right or should they start again from scratch? Overall, most participants in an e-debate on this topic think that they did get it right, but that the indicators still needed refining to make them really useful and easy to monitor.

Making sanitation subsidies effective: an IRC summer debate

By Carmen da Silva Wells

Every year, diarrhoea kills more children in developing countries than AIDS, malaria and measles combined (Pruss-Ustun 2008). Sanitation subsidies are a common tool used to motivate households to construct toilets. This seems an obvious response: many who lack access to sanitation are extremely poor and the potential public health benefits of universal access to safe sanitation are immense. But what is a subsidy? All programmes have some form of subsidy – so the question is HOW to use them effectively.

On the 11th of September, IRC debated the pros and cons of sanitation subsidies. The debate started with short presentations for and against sanitation subsidies. After that, discussions shifted towards a common definition of a subsidy and improvements to ensure subsidies contribute to sustainable services.

Join the e-debate: Are the JMP Post-2015 indicators on WASH in Schools a step in the right direction?

Do you want to influence the global Post-2015 WASH agenda? Do you want to ensure that WASH in Schools gets the prominence it deserves? If you do, then join the e-debate on the JMP Post-2015 indicators for WASH in schools. The results will serve as an input for the public consultation of the JMP Post-2015 Working Groups, which ends on September 20, 2012.

The e-debate starts 3 September and is this first in a series of three on WASH in Schools scheduled for the coming months. The topics are inspired by questions asked during the implementation of the SWASH+ project, an action-research school WASH project in Kenya.

How can you join in?

1. First have a look at the WASH in Schools-related targets, goals and indicators listed on www.washinschools.info/page/2034
2. Go to the e-debate page on CreateDebate.com using this link: washurl.net/bg3fhz. If you are new to CreateDebate.com, you will need to create a (free) account.
3. Make sure you include your function title and organisation in your online profile so that people know who you are.
4. Add your argument to the debate or write a rebuttal. You can link to another website as evidence for your argument or embed a relevant video.
5. You can add as many arguments as you like but you can only cast one vote for each argument (you can change your vote).
6. Remember to keep discussions civilised. We will observe a zero tolerance policy for abusive language.

This first e-debate runs until Friday 14 September, after which we will post a summary of the outcome on www.washinschools.info and submit it to Post-2015 discussion forum on www.wssinfo.org

Make your voice heard and join in on washurl.net/bg3fhz!