IRC WASH Toolkit

IRC has compiled a growing repository of tools and guidance for strengthening water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service delivery.

Achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of universal access to WASH by 2030 requires a systems approach, This means tackling all dimensions such as monitoring systems to see whether services are delivered; financing frameworks that define who pays for what and how; and procurement mechanisms for infrastructure development.

The toolkit is organised around the two related goals of delivering services and delivering change.

The toolkit covers both water supply and sanitation. Sanitation and hygiene-specific tools have been grouped under the sanitation and behaviour change blocks.

Included are best practices, case studies and approaches developed and tested in IRC’s work with governments, NGOs and other partners in over 20 countries.

The tools come from big, multi-country initiatives, such as WASHCost, Triple-S and WASHTech, as well as more focused pieces of work, such as our partnership with the government of Ethiopia to develop guidelines for self-supply.

We are in the early stages of development, so for now the toolkit is a beta product. We encourage you to use and build on our work. We do, however, request you to acknowledge the source and share your experience with us. We also welcome your feedback as we continue to expand and refine the toolkit. Please send your comments, questions and experiences to info@ircwash.org.

The toolkit is available at: www.ircwash.org/wash-tools

 

Preventing violence linked to WASH: practitioners’ toolkit

WeCan Campaign poster used in an IDP camp in Batticoloa, Sri Lanka to help respond to and prevent violence against women

Poorly designed and located water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions can increase people’s vulnerability to violence. This can range from sexual harassment when practicing open defecation or collecting water, to staff demanding sexual favours in exchange for access to WASH facilities.<

With this in mind, WaterAid/SHARE have published a toolkit  [1] to help practitioners make water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) safer for the most vulnerable.

The toolkit consists of briefing notes, a checklist of actions based on the ten key principles for reducing vulnerability to WASH-related violence, and a range of tools including case studies of good practice.  It is relevant for both humanitarian and development contexts. The materials also include videos, scenarios for training and tools for use with communities, key extracts from international human rights instruments and a folder of additional supporting information

Any actor working in humanitarian, development or transitional contexts can request free access to the materials by sending an email to gbv@wateraid.org.

[1] House, S., Ferron, S., Sommer, M. and Cavill, S. 2014. Violence, gender and WASH : a practitioner’s toolkit : making water, sanitation and hygiene safer through improved programming and services. London, UK, WaterAid/SHARE.

For more information:

• House, S. et al., 2014. Violence, gender and WASH : a practitioner’s toolkit : making water, sanitation and hygiene safer through improved programming and services. Humanitarian exchange magazine, no. 60, February 2014. Available at: <http://washurl.net/5as6s3>
• Violence and vulnerability: making WASH safe. Hygiene promotion in emergencies newsletter, no. 5, March 2014, Available at: <http://washurl.net/8k5b0a>
• SHARE: Equity

In 2012 WaterAid America released “1 in 3“, a video highlighting the impact of the lack of sanitation on women.

India, Madhya Pradesh: sanitation campaign humiliates women, say critics

Controversial illustration from Madya Pradesh sanitation campaign booklet

A government campaign to stop open defecation in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh has been criticised for using humiliation to change behaviour. Journalist M. Poornima writes that the ambitious scheme called ‘Maryada Abhiyan’ (Hindi for dignity), “gives little of it to women”.

From catcalls to publishing names to photographing the people caught — the government booklet [1] suggests a number of measures meant to humiliate people. That it would hit women the hardest is not a thought that appears to have occurred to the authorities.

The criticism is backed up by WaterAid programme officer Binu Arickal, who called whistling at or photographing women practising open defecation “foolish”. This reflects a discussion started at the beginning of this year on community-led total sanitation (CLTS) and human rights in the SuSanA Forum, which was sparked by a journal article [2] by Jamie Bartram and others.

UNICEF contributed to the Maryada campaign booklet. The campaign’s brand ambassador is Anita Narre, the bride from a Madhya Pradesh who  sparked a “sanitation revolution” in her village by forcing her husband to build a toilet in their home.

[1] Madhya Pradesh. State Water and Sanitation Mission (2012?). Maryada Abhiyan: guideline. Available at: <http://washurl.net/42kkyn>

[2] Bartram, J. … [et al.] (2012). Commentary on community-led total sanitation and human rights: Should the right to community-wide health be won at the cost of individual rights?. Journal of water and health, 10(4), pp. 499–503. doi: 10.2166/wh.2012.205. Available at: <http://washurl.net/56qm77>

Related web sites:

• Madhya Pradesh. State Water and Sanitation Mission
• India. Ministry of Water and Sanitation – Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan
• IDS – Community-Led Total Sanitation

Source: M. Poornima, No ‘maryada’ for women in MP govt’s sanitation drive, Hindustan Times, 24 Dec 2013

Akvopedia Sustainability Portal launched

Akvopedia has launched a new water and sanitation portal on sustainability. Developed by Akvo in collaboration with IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, the portal provides simple outlines of sustainability frameworks, such as the IRC’s Triple-S framework, as well as the FIETS approach, which was developed by the Dutch WASH Alliance and takes into account five key areas of sustainability – financial, institutional, environmental, technical and social. These key areas have been chosen as the five pillars of the portal’s main page.

Web site: www.akvopedia.org/wiki/Sustainability_Portal

“We Can’t Wait”, say WSSCC, Unilever and WaterAid on World Toilet Day

We Can’t Wait – Governments, civil society and business should work together to tackle sanitation for women’s health; say Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Unilever and WaterAid

Dowwload the report here. 

A collaborative approach between governments, civil society and business is essential to getting the Millennium Development Goal sanitation target back on track. This is critical to improve the health and prosperity of women worldwide, says a new report jointly published by the United Nations hosted organisation Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, international development organisation WaterAid and Unilever’s leading toilet brand Domestos.

The report, We Can’t Wait, was presented today at a UN event in New York which celebrates recognition of the first official World Toilet Day. The day serves to remind the world that over 2.5 billion people lack access to an adequate toilet, with devastating consequences in particular for the well-being, health, education and empowerment of women and girls worldwide.

Is there a sustainable business case for sanitation?

Left to right: Radu Ban (Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), Babar Kabir (BRAC) and Bernadette Blom (Goodwell Investments), panelists at the workshop Making Sustainable Business out of Sanitation. Photo: Peter McIntyre

The business case for sanitation in developing countries is testified by the thousands of small scale entrepreneurs springing up to tackle problems of open defecation and process faecal waste and urine.

Will these businesses be profitable and sustainable? Can they address the huge scale of the problem? Will they address the issues in rural areas as well as urban areas? These questions are much harder to answer.

The evidence from an event at the International Water Week leading up to the Sarphati Sanitation Award was mixed. The workshop Making Sustainable Business out of Sanitation, showed a high level of innovation and enthusiasm for businesses to address two of the most intractable public health and environment issues of our age – the 2.5 billion people who don’t have access to safe hygienic toilets and sanitation, and how to deal with human waste.

Mapping sustainability assessment tools to support sustainable water and sanitation service delivery

Mapping sustainability assessment tools to support sustainable water and sanitation service delivery, 2013.

• 2013_WP6_SustainabilityAssessmentTools.pdf  (1,000.92 kB)

Authors: Julia Boulenouar, Ryan Schweitzer and Harold Lockwood. Water Services That Last.  

This paper reviews five different sustainability assessment tools that are currently in use for programme monitoring of WASH interventions. The selected tools all have a developed framework that has each been pilot tested and produces an objective and quantifiable output (e.g., final score or percentage) that can be used to trigger improvements to programme design or take remedial actions. The review team found a larger number of tools in circulation, but did not include those limited to one particular technology or to the organisational aspects of sustainability.

Aug. 31, 2013 – 17th Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) Meeting!!!

Celebration of the past and present, while strategising for the future of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) on 31 August

Be part of one of the most vibrant Alliances in the sanitation sector and participate in the 17th SuSanA meeting being held in Stockholm on the Saturday before the World Water Week 2013. 

The 17th SuSanA meeting is open to all who believe in sustainable sanitation solutions and the systems approach to sanitation. This year’s SuSanA meeting in Stockholm will be a celebration of achievements of SuSanA and its members and partner organisations, in particular of this year’s Stockholm Water Prize Laureate, Dr Peter Morgan, who will be attending the meeting for a few hours.

Another achievement to be celebrated is the recognition by the UN of the World Toilet day, started by the WTO in 2001, which is one of the founding organisations of SuSanA. With respect to the future, we will be having stimulating yet maybe controversial discussions about future initiatives, opportunity areas and ways in which SuSanA can be used effectively by its members to support their work in the sanitation sector.

• Register now to take part in the 17th SuSanA meeting on 31st August which is being hosted by the Stockholm Environment Institute and the SuSanA secretariat.
•  Please see the latest agenda and registration form. Registration is free, as are all the resources  on the SuSanA platform.

Harold Lockwood – USAID and Rotary International adopt innovative sustainability monitoring tool

USAID and Rotary International adopt innovative sustainability monitoring tool | Source: Harold Lockwood, Water Services That Last – August 12, 2013 |

This is great news and fantastic to see USAID adopting and promoting this approach which aims to really track and better understand the underlying causes of poor sustainability in the WASH sector. Sustaining WASH services is complex and dependent not only the hardware (the pumps, latrines and pipes), but also a range of the so-called software elements, for example reliable management entities, long-term external support and monitoring, adequate financing and so on. Measuring coverage is one thing, looking at functionality is also a useful proxy, but if we really want to know where the pinch-points are and how something so seemingly simple as water flowing out of a tap can fall down, it requires a comprehensive and powerful tool.  

This is just what USAID and Rotary International have developed with the new Sustainability Index Tool, or SIT, which has just been released and is available for download on the WASHPlus website here. The tool was developed by Aguaconsult over a period of more than a year and a half and has been tested in three country programmes, with a further two countries being rolled out in the coming months.

Creative measures improve sanitation programmes in eight African countries

Sapling handwashing, Malawi. Photo: Plan Malawi

Eight African countries are creatively achieving the goals of community led total sanitation programmes (CLTS) including one idea in Malawi where handwashing is monitored according to the health of tree seedlings planted beneath water outlets.

In Zambia several schools have established vegetable gardens to reduce malnutrition and improve school attendance. Some of the harvests have been sold raising funds for school activities.

In Sierra Leone men have traditionally been the community leaders but women are now being encouraged to play a major part in village committees and networks of natural leaders.  To support CLTS women conduct house-to-house monitoring, giving health talks and reporting diseases –- many of them overcoming challenges such as illiteracy to maintain the programme.

Plan International’s five year Pan African CLTS (PAC) programme which ends in December, 2014, is operating in the eight countries of Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia and Malawi, Ghana and Niger. With the backing of the Dutch government the project was designed to promote and scale up sanitation in communities and schools.