Water and Sanitation
The aim of this review was to present the recent evidence on the period poverty (lack of access to sanitary products, WASH facilities, dignity, and information about menstruation) impact on the economic empowerment of women. Improving menstrual health management (MHM, also known as ‘period poverty’) can substantially improve girls’ education, health and wellbeing. The literature,… Read more
This rapid review has found that there are many gaps in the evidence on humanitarian responses to acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in Ethiopia, specifically in terms of necessary cross district and/or cross border co-ordination, as well as the human and financial resources needed for such aid (Fisseha, 2016; Oxfam GB, 2017; UNICEF, 2017a; OCHA Somalia,… Read more
Solid waste and faecal sludge management in situations of rapid mass displacement are important to public health and providing for a better environment. Despite this, both have been neglected in WASH programmes, which tend to have a focus on water. However increasing efforts are being made to find solutions to challenges in solid waste and… Read more
This rapid review report has identified the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) options used in emergency settings, with decentralised wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) and mobile wastewater treatment units performing most effectively and with minimal costs. Examples are taken from refugee camps and internally displaced people (IDP) settlements due to the Iraq war, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, and… Read more
This helpdesk provides a rapid analysis on the existing evidence related to effective behaviour change interventions. It has a particular focus on where interventions are related to hygiene and sanitation, nutrition, gender based violence, indoor air pollution, family planning adoption, unsafe sex, motor vehicle driving. The geographic focus is Malawi, but where necessary it draws… Read more
This rapid review looks at the evidence on Early Childhood Development (ECD) models (including integrated approaches) in Malawi and in the Sub-Saharan African region, looking at the impact on child development and learning. Most of the evidence from Malawi focuses on Community Based Childcare Centres (CBCC) which are the main centre based model for ECD… Read more
Evidence and comments suggest that CLTS has been successful in some cases in Africa, however it is difficult to find strong data to support this. Claims to have achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status have often been exaggerated and estimates of numbers of ODF communities inflated. Verification systems need to be improved. Another problem is… Read more
Nutrition interventions in schools and for school age children are covered in sections 2 and 3. These sections look at general school health and nutrition programmes, micronutrients, school feeding, de-worming, nutrition interventions for school age children, improved hygiene, cash transfers, zinc supplementation and adolescent nutrition. Information on nutrition interventions for children under 2 years old… Read more
This report provides information on which methods have worked well to improve access to education for girls in Islamic countries. The report covers the following areas: Conditional cash transfers to girls- Evaluation results from programes include examples from Bangladesh, Punjab, Yemen and Nigeria. All showed increased female enrolment. Women teachers increasing girls’ attendance- Information was… Read more
The multiple ways in which water, sanitation, and hygiene education in schools (WASH in Schools) contributes toward education – including attendance, retention and learning – is fairly well documented. When children have access to clean and appropriate toilets, hand washing facilities, adequate and clean water they are healthier, are more likely to attend school regularly,… Read more