A SUCCESS STORY: SHARE contribution to undoing inequities in the WASH sector
 
Despite being a universal human right, access to WASH continues to be denied to thousands of people with disabilities, older or people living with a chronic illness. Environmental, attitudinal and institutional barriers often leave these vulnerable groups with no choice but to defecate in the open, subjecting themselves to the associated health and safety risks and social stigma.
In recognition of the importance of equitable access and providing for the most marginalised in society, as well as the need to build a stronger evidence base to support such efforts, SHARE is providing funding for a study led by WaterAid, Water, Engineering Development Centre (WEDC) and the Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre (LCD). Read the full story here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A SUCCESS STORY: SHARE contribution to food hygiene
 
Diarrhoeal disease is the second leading cause of death for children under the age of 5 globally, and kills more young children than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. It also causes malnutrition, which accounts for almost a quarter of the global disease burden for children under the age of five and takes a heavy toll on the health, livelihoods and physical and intellectual development of those children who do not die of it.
Recognising the importance of food hygiene in the prevention and control of faecally transmitted disease, and the need to build a stronger evidence base to support this, SHARE has funded three studies in this area, in Bangladesh, Nepal and The Gambia. Read the full story here.
 
 
 
 
 
City-Wide Sanitation Annual Project Meeting
 
The Annual Meeting for SHARE-funded City Wide Sanitation Project took place in June 2014 in Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe. The meeting was attended by Shack/Slum Dwellers (SDI) Secretariat, SDI affiliates, the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and local government officials from the project’s focus cities in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The event allowed the SDI affiliates to share progress around the sanitation precedents and begin to formulate plans for citywide sanitation coverage. There was great participation from local authorities, and the Mayor of Chinhoyi (Zimbabwe) opened the meeting with a speech.
An overview of the meeting and the Mayor’s speech are reported on SDI blog. http://www.sdinet.org/blog/2014/06/24/sanitation-partnerships-slum-dwellers-work-chinhoy/
 
New practitioner's toolkit provides much needed guidance on Violence, Gender and WASH
 
SHARE has developed a toolkit designed to help practitioners to better recognise the risks of violence linked to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and provide guidance on what WASH practitioners can do to reduce these vulnerabilities to violence.  The toolkit, co-published by 27 organisations, including SHARE partner WaterAid, launches today. It has received strong backing from WASH, Gender and GBV global communities of practice, as well as the UK Government. The foreword is penned by Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Lynne Featherstone MP, and the launch event, which took place on 9th June at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was Chaired by DFID Senior Energy and Water Advisor David Woolnough, with a keynote address by DFID Head of Human Development Jane Edmondson. Contributions from senior staff in UNICEF, IRC and Plan grounded the discussion with examples from their own work, and enriched the dialogue around these important issues.
 
 
 
Improving the knowledge base in the Tanzania WASH sector 
 

Sally Faulkner is the Senior Programme Coordinator for Research in WaterAid Tanzania. She also helps coordinate SHARE research in the country.There are five research projects funded by SHARE in Tanzania and Zanzibar:
 
  • Shared sanitation: an improved or unimproved form of sanitation?
  • Expanding the Mtumba model: creating a product for scale up
  • Drivers for effective sanitation governance in rural and peri-urban areas around Lake Victoria-Tanzania
  • Developing sanitation microfinance products in Tanzania
  • Improving maternal health in Zanzibar through improved WASH
 
In this first of a series of blog posts Sally provides updates on the research being carried out in Tanzania as part of the SHARE grant.  
 
 
 
Pilot testing by sanitation microfinance partners in Tanzania is set to begin
 
Since 2010, SHARE has been exploring existing experiences with microfinance in sanitation around the globe. The research, conducted by Trémolet Consulting and MicroSave, found that whilst sanitation microfinance was a rapidly expanding sector in India (and elsewhere in Asia) only few experiences had been carried out in Tanzania (or in Sub-Saharan Africa), with limited success. However, the research also found that sector actors in Tanzania had a strong interest in developing financing tools to enable greater access to sanitation. In 2013, SHARE initiated a one-year action-research to develop microfinance for sanitation in Tanzania, with support from WaterAid Tanzania. Through this action-research, the SanFin-Tz working group was formed. SanFin-Tz acts as a platform for sharing knowledge and experience on microfinance for sanitation in Tanzania. The working group first meeting was held on the 3rd December 2013.  
 
Following on from this first meeting, participants from eight microfinance institutions (MFIs) and NGOs took part in a two-week training on market research for sanitation provided by MicroSave. Three of these organisations (Tujijenge, ECLOF and CCI) are now research partners and currently receiving further support from MicroSave to refine and pilot-test their financial products for sanitation. 
 
Here, we report back on the second meeting of the working group, held in May 2014.
 
 
Can microfinance boost sanitation businesses in East Africa? SHARE and WaterAid host a regional workshop to assess recent experiences and current prospects 
 
On the 16th May, SHARE and WaterAid convened representatives from international organisations, NGOs and financial institutions to a regional learning workshop on sanitation microfinance in Dar Es Salaam. Under the title “Embedding microfinance into sanitation programmes”, the workshop objectives were to capitalise on current experiences, evaluate what has been done in this area in the East Africa region and identify what type of support financial institutions operating in the region are likely to need to enter the market. Here, Goufrane Mansour of Tremolet Consulting provides a description of the workshop.
 
 
 
Making the connections between WASH, menstrual hygiene management and the wellbeing of women and girls 
 

Yesterday we celebrated the first ever Menstrual Hygiene Day. Inadequate or non-existent toilet facilities or hygiene products make it very hard for women to manage their menstrual hygiene each month. Many are adopting unhygienic practices that put their health at risk. Cultural practices and norms, which alienate menstruating women from society, provide added strain. These factors can lead women to feel ashamed and embarassed of this natural process - many school girls to drop out of school.  One important area for development is research. Since its inception, the SHARE Consortium has committed to addressing knowledge gaps related to water and sanitation and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and contributed to raising awareness on the issue worldwide. Here, we hear from LSHTM Research Fellow and SHARE Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Dr Elisa Roma on the contribution that SHARE has made to date.  
 
 
 
New method to test hand contamination with Ascaris eggs marks important step to better understanding transmission routes of soil transmitted helminths  
 

The importance of hands in the transmission of soil transmitted helminths is under-researched. This study developed a method to assess the number of Ascaris eggs on hands and determine the egg recovery rate of the method. The method has already been field tested in Vietnam and China. In Vietnam a group of farmers was tested and the results found that 35% of sampled hands were positive. The main risk factor was the use of fresh excreta in agriculture. The study in China was conducted among a rural population and here 11% of hands were found to be positive. The Vietnam results have been submitted for publication and the data from China is to be further analysed and written up.  
 
 
More evidence is required before shared sanitation is considered 'improved' in the post-MDG framework  
 
A new systematic review funded by SHARE on the differential health outcomes provided by shared sanitation versus household latrines suggests that more evidence is required before shared sanitation is considered 'improved' in the post-MDG framework.
 
 
IIED presents SHARE-funded City-Wide Sanitation Project findings at the 11th International Conference on Urban Health at the University of Manchester 
 

SHARE partner IIED presented City-Wide Sanitation Project findings on the challenges and opportunities of different models for improving sanitation in deprived communities at the 11th International Conference on Urban Health at the University of Manchester.  
 
 
 
SHARE-funded programme on inclusive WASH informs International Development Select Committee's recommendations to the UK government on disability and development 
 
The SHARE-funded "Undoing inequity: WASH projects that deliver for all" programme led by WaterAid and WEDC has helped inform the International Development Select Committee's (IDSC) recent recommendations to the UK government on Disability and Development.
  
The programme is contributing to a sparse evidence base on the impact of WASH poverty, barriers to WASH access, and the effect of improved access on the lives of disabled people and their families, encouraging more informed policy and practice in this area. The International Development Select Committee’s report, following its latest enquiry on Disability and Development, is a concrete example of the value added provided by the study. The report draws on programme evidence to issue a series of recommendations to DFID on mainstreaming disability in development. 
 
 
 
SHARE researcher Dr Sirajul Islam is awarded a gold medal by the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences 
 

SHARE researcher and Head of Environmental Microbiology at ICDDR,B, Dr Md Sirajul Islam, has been awarded a gold medal by the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences in acknowledgement of his contribution to the advancement of science. The gold medal award ceremony will be held on the 20th April in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh as guest of honour. 

 
 
 
Training of Trainers on our Menstrual Hygiene Matters practitioners toolkit at 2014 WASH Conference 
 

The SHARE/WaterAid-funded toolkit on Menstrual Hygiene Matters - an essential resources for improving menstrual hygiene for women and girls in lower and middle-income countries - continues to broaden its reach, as it formed the basis for a one-day training of trainers workshop at this year's Brisbane WASH Conference last week. Menstrual hygiene management is a neglected topic with far-reaching implications for health, education and gender. Here, Sue Cavill, one of the workshop facilitators, reports on its success.

 
 
 
City-wide sanitation project publishes situational analyses of its four focus cities 
 

Rapidly growing urban populations and informal settlements coupled with inadequate sanitation provision create a concerning picture in major cities in developing countries. The SHARE-funded City-Wide Sanitation Project seeks to address this. One of the first steps of the three year project was the analysis of the current situation in the four cities under study - Blantyre in Malawi, Chenhoyi in Zimbabwe, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Kitwe in Zambia. These reports give an overview of the current situation with water and sanitation provision in the four focus cities. 

 
Urine diverting toilets offer several benefits to landlords in Malawi. Why is this technology not often adopted? 
 

RichardChunga is a SHARE-funded PhD student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). For his PhD, Richard is investigating key factors affecting the adoption of urine diverting toilets (UDTs) in peri-urban areas in Blantyre and Lilongwe City in Malawi. Here, in his first blog post, Richard frames the questions he is investigating and provides interesting preliminary insights.

 
 
Rochelle Holm provides an update on the SHARE-funded study in Malawi on private sector involvement in sanitation provision 
 

Dr Rochelle Holm PhD PMP works at the Centre of Excellence in Water and Sanitation in Mzuzu University, Malawi. She is the PI for an exciting new SHARE-funded research project into Private Sector Participation in the Delivery of Sanitation and Hygiene Services.  February and March have been busy months for the project, as they presented their work at the national WESNET learning forum and completed their data collection.

 
 
The role of WASH in maternal health forms central focus of high-profile panel discussion in Washington DC  
 
Hundreds of thousands of women die of pregnancy and childbirth-related complications every year and, as the SHARE-funded systematic review has shown, research suggests that in developing countries there is a link between maternal health and lack of access to quality water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). SHARE Researcher Lenka Benova reports on her recent participation on a high-level panel in Washington on ways to advance maternal health using WASH strategies. 
 
 
 
 
New post for the SHARE blog on generating evidence for better policy and practice: in commemoration of International Women's Day  
 
International Women’s Day, which was last Saturday, is an opportunity to celebrate achievements towards gender equality but also to bring out political and social awareness of the struggles that women worldwide continue to face. Though we’ve come a long way, for most women in the world discrimination of one form or another is part of their daily reality. The huge challenges still to overcome can sometimes create a sense of hopelessness, but we must remember to learn from past achievements. This new blog post reflects on the role of community engagement and evidence in this process. 
 
 
 
SHARE-funded City-Wide project reports on the successes of its first year 
 

SHARE partners Shack/Slum Dwellers (SDI) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) have just published four policy briefs documenting the first year of the SHARE-funded City-Wide Sanitation Project.The purpose of this research project is to develop inclusive, sustainable sanitation strategies. The first year was focused on data collection, including community mapping and profiling. 

 
 
Systematic review finds evidence of substantial association between sanitation and water and maternal mortality 
 
We have known for over 200 years that maternal mortality is linked to poor WASH.  However, we have little information on the extent to which poor water or sanitation environments, in either facilities or homes, currently contribute to maternal mortality. This review marks an important step forward, as it has found that there is in fact evidence of association between sanitation and maternal mortality and between water and maternal mortality.  Maternal health is of course about a lot more than WASH. The causes of maternal deaths and the context within which they happen are multiple and inter-related, and each of these often demands a number of interventions. Nonetheless, this review plays an important role in strengthening the evidence in favour of WASH playing an important part of a successful package of interventions.  
 
 
Tanzania country platform: generating interest in the sanitation sector among microfinance institutions 
 

The action-research on developing microfinance in Tanzania has reached a new milestone. Led by Trémolet Consuting, in partnership with MicroSave and WaterAid, the research is part of wider efforts by SHARE to catalyse sanitation financing in Tanzania. In Dar Es Salaam, between January 28th and February 6th, 14 representatives of eight institutions with microfinance experiences received intensive two-week training in market research for sanitation. The training was hosted by WaterAid Tanzania. 
 
 
Four students selected for the SHARE Research Fellowship Programme in Bangladesh 
 
WIth the support of SHARE, WaterAid Bangladesh launched a Research Fellowship Programme in December last year to support Masters students with their field research in the area of sanitation and hygiene. Following an extremely competitive process, with dozens of applicants, four students have been selected:  
 
 
 
A story of change: Esther Cheelo, blind and elderly, talks about the benefits of water and sanitation access 
 

Esther is blind and elderly and has difficulty walking. For years she has relied upon others to collect water and to walk her into the scrubland near her home to find a place to relieve herself. But then, with the help of SHARE through WaterAid, her village got a water point and toilets for the first time. Here, Esther tells us in her own words what a change this has made. 
 
 
 
 “SuperAmma” campaign results in significant improvements in people’s handwashing behaviour 
 

A unique handwashing campaign jointly funded by SHARE and the Wellcome Trust has shown for the first time that using emotional motivators - such as feelings of disgust and nurture - rather than health messages, can result in significant, long-lasting improvements in people’s handwashing behaviour, and could in turn help to reduce the risk of infectious diseases.

Handwashing with soap could prevent perhaps a third of deaths caused by diarrhoeal disease. “Handwashing campaigns usually try to educate people with health messages about germs and diseases, but so far efforts to change handwashing behaviour on a large scale have had little success. Understanding the motivating factors for routine hand washing is essential to any initiative likely to achieve lasting behaviour change.” explains study author Dr Val Curtis, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). 
 
 
Tropical plant Moringa provides for good handwashing material 
 

SHARE-funded research has found that moringa oleifera, a plant found in many tropical and subtropical countries, whose antibacterial activity against different pathogens has been described in different in vitro settings, can be an effective handwashing product if used in the correct concentration. 
 
 
 
LSHTM prizes SHARE PhD students Om Prasad Gautam and Prince Antwi-Agyei for innovation and creativity 
 
SHARE PhD students Om and Prince received prize by LSHTM for their innovative and creative posters
 
 
 
 
 
 
SHARE Research in Malawi receives warm reception at Sector Learning Forum  
 

SHARE Researchers in Malawi presented their research projects to a wide range of sector stakeholders on 30th-31st of January this year at a Learning Forum held by the Water and Environment, Sanitation Network (WES Network). The Forum offered water, sanitation and hygiene professionals from across the country a platform to exchange ideas on best practices. Elijah Wanda, Senior Lecturer at Mzuzu University and co-PI of the SHARE-funded project on Research into Private Sector Participation in the Delivery of Sanitation and Hygiene Services, presented this project to the Forum. Cyrus Mkandawire of Chancellor College presented the SHARE-funded project on Menstrual Hygiene Management in Primary Schools. Both research projects were well received, and there was great interest in SHARE and the role that it plays in the WASH sector in Malawi.   
 
 
SHARE Research Director Professor Sandy Cairncross OBE receives Edwin Chadwick Medal
 

SHARE Research Director Professor Sandy Cairncross has been awarded the Edwin Chadwick Medal for 2014, in recognition of outstanding contributions to the advancement of public health. Sandy has been both a driving force for research on drinking water and sanitation in low-income settings and a persuasive advocate for increased political and social commitment to these issues.  
 
 
Mapping what we know: SHARE Tanzania country platform publishes a review of sanitation and hygiene in the country 

 
Tanzania is a focus country for the SHARE research consortium. As part of that work of the SHARE research group in Tanzania we wish to carry out a desk review study. It provides a synopsis of the “state of the field” in Tanzania, and, as such, provides a useful document for helping to refine SHARE’s focus and also influencing the actions of others in the sector. 
 
 
 
Writing for WASH: SHARE funded workshop to improve documentation in the WASH sector yields results 
 

The benefits of the writing workshop funded by SHARE in July 2012 to build capacity on WASH sector policy and programmes documentation have begun to show in Nepal.
 
Yogesh Pant of HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation (SI) Nepal has recently published a booklet entitled “The effectiveness and outcomes of approaches to functionality of drinking water and sanitation schemes”, following his attendance of the workshop. The booklet was published under Helvetas SI Nepal’s Water and Infrastructure Series 2013/1. 
 
 
Undoing inequity project publishes baseline findings 
 

Disabled people, older people and people with a chronic illness often lack WASH services because of environmental, attitudinal and institutional barriers. Little is known about how a lack of WASH impacts on the lives of these people and their families, how to address the barriers so everyone can have access to WASH, and the benefits of improved access to WASH on these people’s lives. The Undoing Inequity project aims to fill these knowledge and practice gaps. The baseline survey has helped us come closer to understanding the first of these questions. Namely, it has informed a WaterAid report to the International Development Select Committee who's latest inquiry is on Disability and Development.

 
 
Om's blog: next steps following the intervention trial
 

Om updates us on his activities following the intervention trial in the summer: After the completion of the food hygiene intervention trial in early September, four major activities were performed between September and December 2013. In this blog, I would like to update you on the details of these activities, namely: i) multi-sector policy analysis, ii) trial outcomes measurement, iii) trial compliance measurement and iv) dissemination of findings at national level.  
 
 
 
 
SHARE and WSSCC partner with WSP on a two-day workshop on WASH and women and girls
 

SHARE and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) held a two-day workshop together with the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP) in Delhi this week. The workshop had two main aims: to share on-going SHARE-WSSCC-funded research focused on how women and girls are differentially affected by poor water and sanitation, and to encourage discussion on how women as agents of change can support progress in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). 
 
 
 
SHARE-funded action research programme on sanitation microfinance in Tanzania gets off to a good start  
 

A workshop on sanitation microfinance took place in WaterAid’s offices on 3rd December. This was the kick-off event of a one-year action research programme on sanitation microfinance funded by SHARE and WaterAid. 
 
 
 
 
Building capacity: SHARE Research Fellowship Programme in Bangladesh
 
The SHARE Masters Research Fellowship Programme in Bangladesh has today been announced to potential students in the country.  With the support of SHARE, WaterAid Bangladesh is inviting research proposals on Sanitation and Hygiene issues from current students of a Master of Public Health (MPH) and relevant disciplines (e.g. Development Studies, Environmental Science, Gender Studies, Population Sciences, Anthropology, Sociology, Social Work). 
 
 
 
SHARE Researchers contribute to a new high-profile report on sanitation and hygiene in Africa. 
 
SHARE Researchers have contributed to the new report on “Sanitation and hygiene in Africa: Where do we stand? Analysis from the AfricaSan Conference in Kigali, Rwanda”. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SHARE Researcher Val Curtis speaks at the inauguration of World Toilet Day as an official UN day   
The UN officially celebrated World Toilet Day for the first time this year, and SHARE Researcher Val Curtis spoke at the official inaugural event.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
SHARE researchers present their findings to DFID to mark World Toilet Day 
 
To mark World Toilet Day last Tuesday, SHARE-funded researchers had the opportunity to present their work to a varied audience at the UK Department for International Development. 

The researchers presented their work at DFID’s Whitehall offices to London-based staff, as well as staff based in Scotland and country officers from across the globe. 
 
 
Discussing sanitation financing on World Toilet Day with guests John, Sophie and Sandy 
 
On this World Toilet Day, 2.5 billion people across the globe still don’t have access to a basic toilet. This is holding back development, not only due to the associated health impacts. Substantially increased investment is crucial. What type of investment model is most likely to work in resource poor settings?  
 
 

UK Launch of Cochrane Review on WASH and Childhood Undernutrition 
 
The UK Launch of the Cochrane Review on WASH and Childhood Undernutrition was held yesterday at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). Lead author Dr Alan Dangour, Senior Nutrition Lecturer at LSHTM, presented the findings, followed by comments from a distinguished panel including Ms Anna Taylor, Senior Nutrition Advisor at the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Mr Girish Menon, Director or International Programmes and Deputy Chief Executive at WaterAid and Professor Sandy Cairncross OBE of LSHTM. 
 
 
 
SHARE-funded collaboration on maternal health in Zanzibar gets off to a great start 
A recent visit by SHARE partner WaterAid to Zanzibar marks an important first step in the jointly funded collaboration between SHARE, WaterAid, the SoapBox Collaborative and key national stakeholders. The proposed collaboration has the firm support of the Minister for Health and Social Welfare, pictured here, and aims to support the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare's plans to improve quality of care in maternity units through appropriate WASH services in healthcare facilities. 
 
 
The Fifth South Asian Conference on Sanitation - renewed focus on hygiene and first time mention of nutrition 
The Fifth South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-V) took place last week, from 22-24 October in Kathmandu, Nepal. As well as reaffirming the principles of policy and good practice set out in the SACOSAN declarations of the last decade, the Kathmandu Declaration was the first to recognise nutrition as one area where sanitation unlocks measurable benefits. The evidence showing a link between sanitation, hygiene and water and childhood undernutrition is growing, as shown in the recent SHARE-funded Cochrane Review on WASH and Childhood Undernutrition, so it is heartening to see the link being affirmed in this a high-profile Declaration. 
 
 
Landlords and tenants: a vital relationship for improving sanitation in Tanzania 
The relationship between landlords and tenants was highlighted by Keko Machungwa (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) community members as a critical challenge in improving sanitation standards. The Tanzania Urban Poor Federation and Centre for Community Initiatives have been exploring ways of improving this relationship, with a view to improving sanitation in informal settlements. This report discusses an example of these initiatives, in Keko Machungwa settlemennt, Dar es Salaam. 
 
 
 
Dr Alan Dangour: Can WASH interventions improve the growth of children? 
Dr Alan Dangour, Senior Lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and lead author of the SHARE-funded Cochrane Review on WASH and Childhood Undernutrition, discusses whether, and how, WASH interventions can improve growth in children.
 
 
 
 
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development visits SHARE-funded projects in Uganda 

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development Lynne Featherstone visited two projects that are part of the SHARE-funded Undoing Inequity programme in Uganda yesterday. The visits to the projects - Wera Primary School and Bobol Village - were chosen as part of a wider visit by the Minister to Uganda to look at innovative work on disability in developing contexts.  
 
 
Jo's blog: What do Global Handwashing Day and World Food Day have in common? 

Jo Esteves Mills, Research Uptake Officer at the SHARE Research Consortium, talks about the importance of WASH interventions in programmes that tackle undernutrition, as we celebrate Global Handwashing Day and look ahead to World Food day, tomorrow.
 
  
 
Om's blog

 
Om shares reflections and photos on the food hygiene intervention trial, having been in the field with limited connectivity for the last three months.  
 
 
 
New video suggests that low-cost interventions for inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene service delivery are possible in Uganda  
 
The SHARE-funded research project “Undoing Inequity: Inclusive Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programmes that Deliver for All” has just produced a video that investigates the cost of inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene service delivery in Uganda.
Remarkable progress has been made over the last decade in access to water and sanitation, which are Millennium Development Goal 7 targets. Nonetheless, huge disparities in access remain. For example, older people, disabled people, or people with chronic illnesses have difficulty in accessing these basic services. While people remain excluded, universal access cannot be achieved.
 
As James Kiyimba, the Programme Coordinator for Communications at WaterAid Uganda, explains, cost is often cited as one of the main barriers to providing facilities that are accessible to all. WaterAid and its partners have produced a video that investigates the cost of having in place inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene services in Uganda. It demonstrates that, in terms of the hardware costs, simple low-cost adaptations do exist that provide inclusive solutions.
 
When asked what could be achieved with this video, James said: “I hope that WASH practitioners and key policy and decision makers, as well as the general public, watch this video and that it brings to life for them the real challenges that some people face each day to access services that most of us absolutely take for granted. Most of all, I hope it illustrates how low cost interventions can help overcome the physical barriers to such access, and that it really drives home the difference that improved access to WASH can have on a person’s health and dignity and their ability to participate more fully in society”.
 
  
Open Defecation and Childhood Stunting in India: An Ecological Analysis of New Data from 112 Districts 

SHARE researcher Oliver Cumming recently co-authored a paper with Dean Spears at the Delhi School of Economics and Arabinda Ghosh (IAS, Goverment of India) in the journal PLoS ONE entitled Open Defecation and Childhood Stunting in India: An Ecological Analysis of New Data from 112 Districts. The paper adds to a growing body of evidence linking poor sanitation to childhood undernutrition in India with the authors finding that a 10 percent increase in open defecation was associated with a 0.7 percentage point increase in both stunting and severe stunting. The recently published Cochrane Review on sanitation and childhood undernutrition authored by Alan Dangour and funded by SHARE offers more information on this important area of research.
   
 
Om's Blog: Launching of the food hygiene intervention in Nepal 

Following on from the design of the intervent

Nepalese mothers learning about the 5 behaviours

ion and the baseline study, Om updates us about the long-awaited launch of his Food Hygiene Intervention Trial in rural Nepal.
 The intervention draws on a variety of behaviour change techniques to improve food hygiene in the home, with a focus on weaning foods.
 
 
 
 
WSUP call for expressions of interest in research on urban sanitation in Bangladesh 

wsup logo

 
Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) are seeking a world-class research team to design and implement a research project in Dhaka (Bangladesh), around the effectiveness of large-scale sanitation promotion strategies to improve usage and maintenance of existing communal toilet facilities in low-income urban communities. The fund is GBP 220,000 and the timescale is late 2013 to late 2015. 
 
 
Om's Blog: Finalising the intervention and conducting the baseline study 
 
child with branded bib, Nepal
In the latest updates from Om Prasad Gautam's food hygiene intervention study in Nepal, he outlines the framework and content of the food hygiene promotion package he has conceived. He also goes into detail about the baseline study he has conducted before proceeding with the intervention itself. 
 
 
 
 
SIT - a new Sanitation Investment Tracker mobile app 
 
SHARE has funded Trémolet Consulting to work with Akvo.org to develop the Sanitation Investment Tracker (SIT) mobile app. SIT is a suite of applications that can be used to track investment and associated expenditure in sanitation at household level. Learn more about SIT and start using the app. 
 
 
Dr Val Curtis
 
Setting Research Priorities to Reduce Mortality and Morbidity of Childhood Diarrhoeal Disease in the Next 15 Years 
SHARE researcher Dr Val Curtis recently co-authored a paper in the journal PLOS Medicine: Setting Research Priorities to Reduce Mortality and Morbidity of Childhood Diarrhoeal Disease in the Next 15 Years.
 
 
 
 
FREE IDS CLTS Sharing and Learning Workshop, 30 June in Nakuru, Kenya 
 
The CLTS Knowledge Hub at IDS is hosting a one day CLTS Sharing and Learning workshop on the 30th June, ahead of the main WEDC Conference in Nakuru, Kenya.   
 
Women with toilet, India

Sanitation microfinance: a solution to the household sanitation cash trap? 

SHARE recently published two case studies on sanitation microfinance in India and Tanzania, based on original research by Trémolet Consulting and MicroSave. Author of the case studies Sophie Trémolet identifies lessons learned from the research and a way forward for making microfinance part of the solution for reducing the sanitation access gap.  

 

Download the India case study and Tanzania case study 

Read Sophie Trémolet's reflections on the research

Resources

Disability: Making CLTS Fully Inclusive. By Wilbur, J. and Jones, H.

  • PDF

This issue of Frontiers of CLTS focuses on people with disabilities and particular needs for WASH access. To do so the publication draws on results from the SHARE-funded “Undoing Inequity“ project in Uganda and Zambia and on other water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes that aim to be fully inclusive. The study outlines barriers to access and proposes practical actions to ensure that CLTS and related programmes are inclusive and accessible for disabled people.

JOURNAL ARTICLE: Transmission of helminth eggs through hands in a high-risk community

  • PDF

This paper explores the role that hand hygiene plays in the transmission of Ascaris, by testing a newly developed method to quantify the presence helminth eggs on hands among a group of farmers in Vietnam. Results show that 34% (31/90) of study participant hands' were positive for helminth eggs, though concentrations were low and ranged from 0–10 eggs/2 hands. The use of fresh excreta in agriculture was the only variable that showed an association with the concentrations of eggs found on hands.

PRESENTATION: Private Sector Participation in the delivery of Sanitation and Hygiene Services

  • Power Point

This presentation features some preliminary results from SHARE-funded project ‘Private Sector Participation in the delivery of Sanitation and Hygiene Services’, implemented by the Centre of Excellence in Water and Sanitation, Mzuzu University, Malawi. This presentation was given by Rochelle Holm at the Social Science Conference at Chancellor College in Zomba on the 26th of June 2014.

Identification of funding mechanisms for private sector participation in the provision of rural household sanitation facilities, in Nkhata Bay District (Malawi) by Rochelle Holm, Victor Kasulo, Elijah Wanda

  • PDF

This publication features results from the SHARE-funded research project “Private Sector Participation in the Delivery of Sanitation and Hygiene Services in Malawi”, led by the Centre of Excellence in Water and Sanitation at Mzuzu University. The paper provides an overview of the funding mechanisms for private sector participation and provision of rural household sanitation facilities, within Nkhata Bay District, Malawi.

Innovative communal sanitation models for the urban poor. Lessons from Uganda

  • PDF

This document, prepared by Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI), reports on the process of construction and management of two toilet blocks in Jinja and Kampala (Uganda). It presents an overview and reflection of the design, financial models, processes adopted as well as the challenges faced. Discussions about scaling up sanitation provision through these models are also presented. Finally, the document reports on key lessons learnt from the experience.

JOURNAL ARTICLE-Estimating the impact of unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene on the global burden of disease: evolving and alternative methods

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This paper provides a summary of evolving methods over previous Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies, to provide context for a series of companion papers proposing alternative assumptions and methods concerning the disease burden and risks from inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene. The authors also describe an alternative approach using population intervention modelling. Conclusions emphasise the important role of GBD studies and the need to ensure that policy on interventions such as water and sanitation are grounded on methods that are transparent, peer-reviewed and widely accepted.

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