School menstrual hygiene management in Malawi: more than toilets, 2012.
SHARE; WaterAid
This study identifies the needs and experiences of girls regarding menstruation. It draws upon participatory group workshops, a questionnaire and semi structured interviews with school-age girls in Malawi to make various recommendations, including lessons about menstrual hygiene management (MHM), girl-friendly toilet designs, and the provision of suitable and cheap sanitary protection.
Posted in Gender, Hygiene promotion, Malawi, School sanitation
Tagged girls toilets, menstrual hygiene, WaterAid
Journal of Public Health in Africa, March 2012
Factors leading to poor water sanitation hygiene among primary school going children in Chitungwiza
Blessing Dube, James January
Although the world has progressed in the area of water and sanitation, more than 2.3 billion people still live without access to sanitation facilities and some are unable to practice basic hygiene. Access to water and basic sanitation has deteriorated in Chitungwiza and children are at risk of developing illness and missing school due to the deterioration.
We sought to investigate the predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors that are causally related to water- and sanitation- related hygiene practices among school going children. A random sample of 400 primary school children (196 males, 204 females) in four schools in Chitungwiza town, Zimbabwe was interviewed. Behavioural factors were assessed through cross examination of the PROCEED PRECEDE Model. The respondents had been stratified through the random sampling where strata were classes. A structured observation checklist was also administered to assess hygiene enabling facilities for each school.
Children’s knowledge and perceptions were inconsistent with hygienic behaviour. The family institution seemed to play a more important role in life skills training and positive reinforcement compared to the school (50% vs 27.3%). There was no association between a child’s sex, age and parents’ occupation with any of the factors assessed (P=0.646). Schools did not provide a hygiene enabling environment as there were no learning materials, policy and resources on hygiene and health. The challenges lay in the provision of hygiene enabling facilities, particularly, the lack of access to sanitation for the maturing girl child and a school curriculum that provides positive reinforcement and practical life skills training approach.
Posted in Gender, Hygiene promotion, Publications, School sanitation, Zimbabwe
Tagged hygiene behaviour, primary schools
Translating Research into National-Scale Change: A Case Study from Kenya of WASH in Schools, 2011. SWASH Project.
Over the past 5 years CARE, Emory University’s Center for Global Safe Water, and Water.org, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Sustaining and Scaling School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Plus Community Impact (SWASH+) project, have worked to achieve sustainable and national-scale school WASH services in Kenya through applied research and advocacy. The project tested a multi-armed school WASH intervention through a randomized, controlled trial with multiple policy-relevant sub-studies. Research results were then used to advocate for policy change to bring about sustainable school WASH services nationally. These efforts have focused on improving budgeting for operations and maintenance costs, improving accountability systems with a focus on monitoring and evaluation, and more effectively promoting knowledge of WASH through teacher training and the national curriculum.
Advocacy objectives were developed through a problem-tree analysis and stakeholder analyses. SWASH+ used Outcome Mapping to track progress against these objectives. Specific advocacy goals were to identify important policy intervention areas, work with policymakers to update knowledge and identify learning gaps and then act as a learning adviser to the relevant ministries.
Though the project has not achieved all advocacy objectives, it can claim some advances. Lessons for effective school WASH advocacy gained from the program successes and mistakes are as follows:
1) Having a rigorous evidence base creates large amounts of credibility with policymakers.
2) Significant time and follow-up are needed as well as having staff with appropriate skills.
3) The “ripeness” of the external policy environment is crucial and can make or break efforts to affect national-scale change. Successful advocacy initiatives avoid being insular, focus on the external policy environment at the outset, assess data needs and stakeholder roles and responsibilities, and set reasonable objectives.
Posted in Advocacy, Kenya, Monitoring & evaluation, Policies & legislation, Research, School sanitation
Tagged SWASH+ Project
Tropical Medicine & International Health, December 2011, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2011.02927.x
Assessing the impact of a school-based water treatment, hygiene and sanitation programme on pupil absence in Nyanza Province, Kenya: a cluster-randomized trial
Matthew C. Freeman, Leslie E. Greene, et al.
Objectives There has been increased attention to access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) at schools in developing countries, but a dearth of empirical studies on the impact. We conducted a cluster-randomized trial of school-based WASH on pupil absence in Nyanza Province, Kenya, from 2007 to 2008.
Methods Public primary schools nested in three geographical strata were randomly assigned and allocated to one of three study arms [water treatment and hygiene promotion (WT & HP), additional sanitation improvement, or control] to assess the effects on pupil absence at 2-year follow-up.
Results We found no overall effect of the intervention on absence. However, among schools in two of the geographical areas not affected by post-election violence, those that received WT and HP showed a 58% reduction in the odds of absence for girls (OR 0.42, CI 0.21–0.85). In the same strata, sanitation improvement in combination with WT and HP resulted in a comparable drop in absence, although results were marginally significant (OR 0.47, 0.21–1.05). Boys were not impacted by the intervention.
Access full article here
Conclusion School WASH improvements can improve school attendance for girls, and mechanisms for gendered impacts should be explored. Incomplete intervention compliance highlights the challenges of achieving consistent results across all settings.
Posted in Gender, Hygiene promotion, Kenya, Research, School sanitation, Water treatment
Tagged absenteeism
Schools that promote a healthy learning environment for pupils ensure that there is access to water and sanitation facilities and that teachers engage pupils frequently on discussions about health. In these schools the number of children who washed hands frequently increased from six percent to over 80 percent in a period of 10 months.
Researchers from the Nairobi-based African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) worked with 22 primary schools in two informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya under an initiative dubbed Health Promoting Schools (HPS). HPS is a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative that takes a holistic approach in integrating healthy behaviours into all aspects of school life.
Unilever through its Lifebuoy soap brand has reached 100,000 students in over 80 schools across Nairobi County its hand washing campaign. The “School of Five” campaign aims to get over one million people across Kenya to pledge to the habit of washing their hands with soap on five occasion throughout the day with the help of trained school children and teachers. The campaign is being jointly implemented by Lifebuoy Kenya and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP).
Lifebuoy School of Five poster
Unilever contracted popular Kenyan singer Esther Wahome, in a two-year “multi-million shilling” deal, to act us brand ambassador for the Lifebuoy School of Five campaign. In line with the campaign. Mrs Wahome has released a handwashing jingle dubbed Osha Mikono (Wash your hands) to accompany the campaign.
A 2010 clean hands study conducted to check the hand washing habits of Kenyans found that only 15 per cent are aware of the proper hand washing techniques.
Visit the Lifebuoy Facebook page
Source: Stanley Njenga, Nairobi Star / allAfrica.com, 09 Jul 2011 ; Hot Secrets, 25 Apr 2011
GIZ and JICA have signed an agreement to collaborate in water and sanitation in Zambia, Uganda and Kenya. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have agreed to plan, implement and evaluate their projects collectively in future. There are plans to extend the cooperation to other countries as well.
In Zambia, GIZ works on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Zambia, providing advisory services to the government and urban water providers. JICA implements infrastructure and technical assistance projects, in both urban and rural areas. The two agencies have not set a time limit for their cooperation, but they have agreed biannual evaluations.
In Zambia, for instance, GIZ has cooperated with the government to develop a new concept for supplying water to slum areas, which concentrates on ‘water kiosks’ – public sales points connected to the mains water supply. These have so far opened the way to clean drinking water for more than 600,000 people. Now, assisted by GIZ, JICA will use this approach for wider application in other parts of the country. At the same time, GIZ will help spread the use of a maintenance system for rural water supplies, which was developed with Japanese support, to other regions of Zambia. This will benefit about 500,000 people.
Here GIZ and JICA are working together improve sanitation in schools and poor urban areas, and in climate adaptation measures for water supply.
In Kenya, both agencies are collaborating to reduce water losses in distribution networks, are helping promote more effective use of scarce water resources by the state.
Related web sites:
Source: GIZ, 07 Apr 2011
An Australian hair care brand company; Pureology, has announced its support for the Smart Water for Green Schools (SWGS) project, in Ghana.
The project to be implemented at the Lake-Side Junior High School in the Dambai East Krachie District of the Volta Region seeks to provide potable water and better sanitation for the rural communities and its environs.
A statement copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Monday and signed by Michelle Lunge, the Media Relations Officer of Green Cross International, (GCI) said the project was part of a global partnership set up in 2009 between GCI, an environmental non-governmental organization, and Pureology.
He said the project involves the construction of rainwater harvesting system and six ecological latrines to provide clean water and sanitation facilities to about 500 children as well as 3,500 communities.
Mr Lung said lessons in hygiene and sanitation would be integrated into the curriculum through specially designed modules as part of the initiative.
“Existing projects, such as the recently completed SWGS project at the District Assembly No.1 School in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo region, have proven the importance of improving water systems, he said. “It has also increased school enrolment in the area.”
“We have seen great progress in the SWGS initiative since we began the pilot phase earlier this year. Partnering with PUREOLOGY has been key to the success of this programme, which brings drinking water and better sanitation to rural Ghana, encouraging children to attend school and attracting teachers to previously neglected institutions.”
“Communities across Ghana will benefit as we continue to receive support to roll-out the initiative across the country.”
Mr. Mert Eren, Marketing Manager of Pureology Australia said, “It is with great admiration for the work of Green Cross International that Pureology Australia and New Zealand have joined together to nurture and support the SWGS programme at Lake-Side Junior High School.”
He said the support was part of the company’s commitment to supporting less privileged schools and communities.
“Salons and clients have the opportunity to directly support the Lake-side School by becoming a PureGreen member online at http://www.gci.ch/pureology,”; he said. “Today, there are currently around 1000 PureGreen members worldwide,” he added.
Source: Business Ghana / GNA , 9 November 2010
Posted in Campaigns and events, Ghana, School sanitation
World Vision Ghana and Ghana Rural Water Project, two non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have presented a number of items worth about GH 11,000.00, to Talensi -Nabdam District Education Office, to be distributed to some schools in the area.
The items include dustbins, hand washing containers, cartons of soap and a quantity of towels.
The District Chief Executive, Mrs Vivian Anarfo received the items on behalf of the District Director of Education, Mr Francis Ayaaba.
The Area Programme Manager of World Vision, Mr Norbert Akolbila said the items were meant to educate the beneficiary pupils and their teachers to be abreast of social challenges such as poor sanitation and its related health issues.
He said the beneficiary schools have been provided with boreholes and exposed to health education.
Mr Ayaaba commended the NGOs for their assistance package.
Source: GNA, 1 November 2010
Scores of development projects in the areas of education, water, sanitation and road rehabilitation, valued at GHC282,980, were inaugurated at Kpando, at the weekend.
Six bore holes with hand-pumps were provided for five communities to serve them with potable water. Additionally, institutional latrines were constructed for eight basic schools, five of which are private schools. Two concrete water tanks were also built for the beneficiaries. Also, about 2,400 free school uniforms were distributed among 37 deprived primary schools in the 10 Circuits of the district.
The projects were funded through the Local Service Delivery Governance Programme (LSDGP), the Road Fund, under the auspices of Feeder Road, and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in collaboration with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the Kpando District Assembly.
Mr Francis Ganyaglo, Kpando District Chief Executive, told beneficiary institutions that the gesture was to improve on the basic amenities to raise their standards of living towards the realization of the “Better Ghana” agenda. He said the provision of water and sanitation facilities was to inculcate the habit of hand washing in the students to accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.
Ms Dora Agorsor, Kpando District Director of Education, commended the government and development partners for the provision of the facilities and school uniforms to deprived pupils. She entreated teachers in the district to work extra hard towards raising the standards of education. The head teachers and representatives of the School Management Committees of the various beneficiary institutions praised the government and the Kpando District Assembly for the facilities and pledged to maintain them for present and future users. Master Felix Agbenyo, a pupil of Abanu Primary School and a beneficiary of the free school uniform, thanked the government for its initiative, which he said was an incentive for him to look decent and concentrate on studying.
Source: GNA, 26 October 2010
Posted in Ghana, Hygiene promotion, School sanitation
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