Water, Sanitation and Hygiene – Page 2

Engaging Participants in Community-based Research (SHARE Policy Brief, 2018)

May 31, 2018

SHARE, WASHTED and other WASH and health research partners collaborated to explore issues of trust around community-based research through a community dialogue event in Chikwawa, Southern Malawi. This policy brief outlines key recommendations provided by participants to improve community engagement. The brief is aimed at researchers, research institutions and policymakers.

While the research recommendations provided are based on findings from a community engagement event in rural Malawi, they are applicable to researchers working on community-based research in many low-income and rural contexts.

Click here for full brief.

Gender in Pacific WASH 2017 (RDI Network Case Study, 2017)

May 28, 2018

The Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney (ISF-UTS) and the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) were successfully awarded a grant from the then Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to investigate success, enablers and measures of gender outcomes in water and sanitation initiatives in the Pacific, to inform policy and practice. The research was carried out from 2009-2011. ISF-UTS and IWDA worked in partnership with Live and Learn Environmental Education (LLEE) in Fiji and World Vision in Vanuatu.

The research focused on two Pacific case studies that incorporate participatory strategies and support community decision making processes as part of water and sanitation initiatives, but were not focused on gender equality as a primary outcome: World Vision’s Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) initiatives in rural Vanuatu and Live and Learns water governance and sustainable communities projects in Fiji.

The field research used a strengths-based approach that was informed by principles of empowerment, appreciation and participation. The intention was for the research to build on existing strengths and be a learning process for all involved. For participant organisations, documenting successes and enablers was hoped to lead to a stronger focus on gender, and increased capability to integrate gender into water and sanitation projects. At a strategic level, the research aimed to support integration of gender in a sector with significant potential to contribute to gender equality.

Click here for full case study.

Promoting handwashing and sanitation behaviour change in low-and middle-income countries: a mixed-method systematic review (3ie, 2017)

March 18, 2018

Promotional approaches can be effective in terms of handwashing with soap, latrine use, safe faeces disposal and open defecation. No one specific approach is most effective, however, several promotional elements were shown to induce behaviour change. Different barriers and facilitators which influence the implementation of promotional approaches should be taken into careful consideration when developing new policy, practice, or research projects regarding handwashing or sanitation.

The studies were conducted across 24 low- and middle-income countries. This included 28 studies from Sub-Sahara Africa, 26 from South Asia, 8 from South East Asia and Oceania and 2 from East Asia. We identified only 6 studies conducted in Central or Latin America. For most countries in Central or Latin America we identified few or no studies. It is also notable that evidence is mainly coming from 12 low-income countries (Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nepal, Nigeria (until 2007), Somalia, Tanzania, Thailand, Uganda, Vietnam (until 2008) and Zimbabwe) and 10 lower middle-income countries (China (until 2010), El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Nigeria (from 2007), Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru (until 2008), South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam (from 2009) and Zambia) and is rather occasionally derived from 2 upper middle-income countries (China (from 2010) and Peru (from 2008)).

Promotional approaches targeting handwashing and sanitation behaviour are complex programmes based on several promotional elements, and adapted to the context of the environment where they are implemented. This could be confirmed in the studies included in this review. From the quantitative findings we conclude that there is not one promotional approach that is more effective than another.

Click here for full details.

Influencing Behaviours and Practices to Tackle Poverty and Injustice (Oxfam Discussion Paper, 2018)

March 18, 2018

There is growing understanding among civil society organizations, governments and others about how to enable behaviour change, but many interventions still rely too much on information provision and awareness raising.

This discussion paper draws on learning from theory and practice to provide practitioners with an understanding of the range of influences that shape different behaviours at individual, group, societal and system levels. It suggests a menu of possible interventions to address them, and highlights the need for resources and skill-building. It will be relevant for practitioners involved in programming, humanitarian, influencing and campaigning work, as well as for government officials and donors.

Click here for full paper.

Ten Frontier Technologies for International Development (IDS report 2016)

November 5, 2016

As new technologies and digital business models reshape economies and disrupt incumbencies, interest has surged in the potential of novel frontier technologies to also contribute to positive changes in international development and humanitarian contexts. Widespread adoption of new technologies is acknowledged as centrally important to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

But while frontier technologies can rapidly address large-scale economic, social or political challenges, they can also involve the displacement of existing technologies and carry considerable uncertainty and risk. Although there have been significant wins bringing the benefits of new technologies to poor consumers through examples such as mobile money or off-grid solar energy, there are many other areas where the applications may not yet have been developed into viable market solutions, or where opportunities have not yet been taken up in development practice.

Against this background, the Department for International Development (DFID) commissioned the Digital and Technology Research Group at the Institute of Development Studies to undertake a review of frontier technologies in five key areas.