WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) – Page 3

Wumen Bagung – Communication for Development and Social Change Bulletin: “Whose Theory Counts?” (RMIT, 2018)

October 22, 2018

This edition of Wumen Bagung explores four key themes, each focused on how communication outcomes are influenced by the role of the community, and whether it is passive or active participant. The first theme brings together analyses from across Asia of different ways of communicating to local communities starting with a review of how water, hygiene and sanitation services are communicated in Cambodia, fresh approaches to communication underway in Myanmar by the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the use of cable television in local Philippine communities.

The second theme – which details outside approaches to communication for development (C4D) – opens with Robert Boughen’s challenge for us to rethink Chinese media development investments, not from a neoliberal development perspective, rather through acknowledging that Chinese media assistance in Africa ‘has an active function in a cohesive model of the ‘development economy’. Edwar Hanna and Jackie Davies of C4D Network consider the effects of urbanisation on communication for development, while Sina Øversveen critically examines the Freedom of the Press Index.

The third theme focuses on the lessons to be learned from local communities by directly involving them in C4D. In ‘The Space Between’, Donna Griffin takes us on a journey of learning the Aboriginal way of understanding the world, while Winifredo Dagli reviews the learning development training offered by the University of Philippines Los Banos. Kylie Smith and Melissa Fan close this theme with an examination of C4D in the age of feminism.

The final theme provides examples of the community as leaders in communication and looks at how video is actively being used to interrogate local development challenges in India, followed by an analysis of public art as a critical tool in democratic communication.

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Engaging men and boys in sanitation and hygiene programmes (IDS Frontiers of CLTS: Innovations and Insights 11, 2018)

September 10, 2018

This issue of Frontiers of CLTS shares and builds on the learning from a desk study that explores examples of men’s and boys’ behaviours and
gender roles in sanitation and hygiene (S&H). Of particular interest is the extent to which the engagement of men and boys in S&H processes
is leading to sustainable and transformative change in households and communities and reducing gendered inequality.

The review focuses on men and boys: how to engage them (or not), how to mobilise them as allies in the transformation of S&H outcomes and the
problems they contribute to and experience.

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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.

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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.

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

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

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

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