Behavioral Determinants of Handwashing with Soap in Senegal and Peru: Emergent Learning

A new Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) Learning Note found that beliefs and ease of access to soap and water were correlated with handwashing with soap behaviors for given proxy measures among mothers and caretakers in Peru and Senegal.

“Behavioral Determinants of Handwashing with Soap Among Mothers and Caretakers: Emergent Learning from Senegal and Peru,” is based on survey data from nearly 3,500 households in Peru and 1,500 households in Senegal. This data was analyzed using FOAM, a conceptual framework developed by WSP to help identify factors that might facilitate or impeded handwashing with soap practices at critical times.

The analysis revealed that the impact of different determinants varies depending on the chosen proxy measure, such as the presence of a handwashing station or its distance from kitchen or latrine facilities. Given this variability, the Learning Note found that program managers must clearly define the exact behavior they seek to improve before choosing which determinant to focus on in their formative research.

Utilizing Results-Based Financing to Strengthen Sanitation Services

Results-Based Financing (RBF), which offers incentives for behavior change based on results,  has achieved practical success in both the health and education sectors. To date, however, applications of RBF in the sanitation sector have been limited.

In Identifying the Potential for Results-Based Financing for Sanitation, a new Working Paper published by the Water and Sanitation Program and the SHARE consortium, Sophie Trémolet offers practical ideas to apply RBF financing mechanisms to improve the delivery of sustainable sanitation services.

Webinar: Investigating Long-term Sustainability of Rural Sanitation in Bangladesh, Thursday, 21 July 2011

This webinar presentation is based on findings from a Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) study of 50 local governments that were declared 100% sanitized/open defecation free almost five years ago. Researchers found that almost 90 percent of households in the areas studied have sustained use of a latrine that adequately confines feces, but that hygienic maintenance is relatively poor.

Date: Thursday, July 21, 2011, 8:30-10:00 EST/ 13:30-15:00 GMT
Venue: Virtual, via AdobeConnect, Click ‘Enter as a Guest’, Type your full name and click ‘Enter Room’

To learn about the WSP study,  see the full Technical Report  or Research Brief.

For more information about the seminar read see the full announcement

The Story of Younus – sanitation promotion animation from Pakistan

This animated short film [5 min, 22 sec] details the travails of a barefoot consultant who promotes sanitation in villages in Pakistan. The barefoot consultant prospers in his work and develops a working sanitation market, he achieves such success that he is soon asked to travel to other villages to help them become Open Defecation Free.

The film was directed by Numair Abbas of Gogimation, a division of Gogi Studios in Islamadad, Pakistan. It was produced for the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) and posted on WSP’s YouTube Channel.

Peru: sanitation – two out of three installations not used!

Such is the observation made by “Alternative Pro-poor Sanitation Solutions in Peru” (APSS), despite the numerous sanitation investments of the last few years for families, especially the poorest ones. The program supported by the Foundation Ensemble and undertaken in collaboration with the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) begins with this fact to act simultaneously on supply and demand. On the one side, awareness actions are undertaken to explain the challenges and opportunities of sanitation, and stimulate demand. Access to credit is facilitated. On the other side, activities focus on developing the supply locally, engage institutions and suppliers, and provide them with the means of meeting the evolving demand. Overall, five pilot zones are being studied, and the results are already encouraging.

Find out more:

• Fondation Ensemble – Alternative sanitation solutions for the most underprivileged – WSP- Peru
• WSP – Alternative Pro-poor Sanitation Solutions in Peru [project sheet]

Source: Fondation Ensemble newsletter, no. 11, Apr 2009

Sanitation costs: cash, lives

A World Bank report draws attention to the financial costs of the Kingdom’s poor levels of sanitation and says up to 10,000 lives a year are needlessly lost.
DIARRHOEA and other diseases related to poor sanitation kill nearly 10,000 people a year in Cambodia and cost the Kingdom US$448 million annually, said a recent report from the World Bank’s water and sanitation program.

According to the report, which will be officially released on December 9, the costs translate into a per capita loss of US$32, which is equivalent to 7.2 percent of Cambodia’s national income. (…)

Read all Phnompenhpost.com

Releated site (for the original publication): www.wsp.org

CAMBODIA: Rural sanitation in crisis

PHNOM PENH, 25 September 2008 (IRIN) – At the rate rural communities are gaining access to sanitation, it will take Cambodia 150 years to achieve a government goal of universal coverage in 2025, specialists warned.

According to a recent report by the World Bank-sponsored Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP), only 16 percent of rural Cambodians have access to toilets. (…)

Read all IRINnews

Indonesia: Nationwide campaign to improve sanitation

JAKARTA, 27 August 2008 (IRIN) – Indonesia has launched a nationwide campaign to improve access to sanitation and clean water.

According to the World Bank-administered Water and Sanitation Programme, about 100 million of Indonesia’s 220 million people had no easily accessible, private and safe place to urinate and defecate in 2004, and a recent World Bank report said poor hygiene and sanitation cost the country US$6.3 billion in 2006 (2.3 percent of gross domestic product). (…)

According to the Indonesia Sanitation Sector Development Programme diarrhoea kills 100,000 Indonesian children every year. (…)

Source: IRIN News

Related links: Read more at http://www.wsp.org/index.cfm?page=page_disp&pid=18190 with links to the following related publications:

Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Indonesia
Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Southeast Asia
Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Cambodia–Summary
Economic Impacts of Sanitation in the Philippines
Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Vietnam

Latin America: new publications from WSP

New document from the Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP):

1. Sanitation in Nicaragua: (El estado del saneamiento en Nicaragua – Resultados de una evaluación en comunidades rurales, pequeñas localidades y zonas periurbanas). In Spanish only.

2. Communication, water and sanitation in Latin America. English.

See also: Water and Sanitation Programme and Agua Latina

Read more: Agua potable y saneamiento en Nicaragua

Water Sanitation Program (WSP) – New sanitation reports

Below are links to interesting WSP reports from the WSP May 2008 Newsletter:

1 – Title: Lessons from a Low-Cost Ecological Approach to Sanitation in Malawi (pdf, full-text)

Low cost Ecological Sanitation programs in Malawi have led to the building of over 11,000 compostproducing toilets since 2003. While the toilets are affordable and simple to construct, the fact that they convert human waste into valuable odor-free compost, enables cost recovery for households and is a prime driver in popularizing EcoSan designs.

2 – Title: Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Southeast Asia-Summary (pdf, full-text)

This document is published in light of the International Year of Sanitation 2008. It is a summary of a four-country study in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam under WSP’s Economics of Sanitation Initiative (ESI). This study examines the major health, water, environmental, tourism and other welfare impacts associated with poor sanitation in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. By examining the economic impacts of poor sanitation, and the potential gains from improved sanitation, this study provides important evidence to support the need for investment in sanitation.

3 – Economic Impacts of Sanitation in the Philippines-Summary (pdf, full-text)

This is a detailed individual country report that delves into the major health, water, environmental, tourism and other welfare impacts associated with poor sanitation in the Philippines. The report shows decision makers at the country how the negative impacts of poor sanitation can be mitigated by investing in improved sanitation.

4 – Economic Impacts of Sanitation in Vietnam-Summary (pdf, full-text)

This document looks into the major health, water, environmental, tourism and other welfare impacts associated with poor sanitation in Vietnam. The report shows decision makers in Vietnam how the negative impacts of poor sanitation can be mitigated by investing in improved sanitation.