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Diarrhoeal diseases / Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Current portfolio

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Supporting early year’s development: WASH, improved nutrition and hygiene behaviour change for under-5s in rural Malawi.
Pump Aid
£268,686
October 2020 - September 2022
21,285 
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This project aims to provide under-5s in the Mchinji District of Malawi a chance to reach their full potential by promoting safe environments in which to learn, grow and thrive. Using 15 pre-schools (CBCCs) as an entry point, Pump Aid will engage with local communities to provide sustainable WASH facilities, build capacity to improve feeding, reduce illness and promote stimulating learning environments for young children. Activities will include:

  1. Construction of waterpoints, latrines and handwashing stations in 15 pre-schools.
  2. Operations and maintenance training for members of the pre-school management committees.
  3. Development of income generation plans to cover the cost of maintaining the facilities built as part of this project, but also for resources and improvements to the pre-school.
  4. Training caregivers and frontline health workers on hygiene behaviour and nutrition.
  5. Establishing kitchen gardens at each pre-school and at 6 larger plots. Crops will be used to provide nutritious meals to pre-school students and sold for income generation.
  6. Forming Women’s Task forces who will provide peer-to-peer education on health and nutrition and conduct marketing activities to promote improved water and sanitation technologies.
 
Through this two year project, Pump Aid hope to:

  • Reduce the percentage of Under-5s at the target pre-schools suffering from diarrhoea from 27% to 13%.
  • Improve attendance at the target preschools by 20%.
  • Increase the percentage of target Under-5s washing their hands at critical times from 25% to 75%.
  • Increase the percentage of households in the surrounding communities with access to increased sanitation from 50% to 65%.


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Transforming the Water Supply in Chazanga, Zambia.
Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP)
US$ 748,392
September 2019 - August 2022
80,000
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PicturePre-paid water dispenser - credit: Jon Healey / WSUP

Over 65% of Lusaka’s 2.5 million population live in low-income, informal, peri-urban areas (PUAs). Rapid urban population growth has left many residents in these areas with extremely limited access to basic services. The current water network is unable to meet demand, leaving many residents with no supply at all. The poor quality of the water available to residents leads to frequent outbreaks of water-related diseases such as typhoid, diarrhoea, dysentery and cholera.
 
Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) aim to improve safe water and sanitation access as well as hygiene practices in urban and peri-urban areas. We have awarded them a three year grant to support the government-mandated water utility and a local water trust to improve the water supply in Chazanga, a peri-urban area within the city of Lusaka. Activities will include:

Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) aim to improve safe water and sanitation access as well as hygiene practices in urban and peri-urban areas. We have awarded them a three year grant to support the government-mandated water utility and a local water trust to improve the water supply in Chazanga, a peri-urban area within the city of Lusaka. Activities will include:

  1. Increasing the water supply by drilling a commercial borehole, and by installing and/or rehabilitating a water storage tank.
  2. Reducing water losses by repairing infrastructure and introducing more effective leak detection and water pressure management.
  3. Improving access to the water supply by expanding the network, installing pre-paid dispensers and improving water quality testing.
  4. Building the capacity of the local service providers to ensure the financial sustainability of operations and future investment in capital projects.
 
Through this project, WSUP aim to ensure that:
 
  • 50,000 Chazanga residents gain access to the formal water supply.
  • 30,000 Chazanga residents benefit from increased water availability.
  • Water losses are reduced by at least 10%.
  • The local service provider has the capacity to generate sufficient revenue to sustain improvements and expand the network to reach new customers.​

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Canning II - Improving health through WASH, nutrition and healthcare in West Bengal, India 
Terre des hommes   
£313,401
January 2019 - June 2021
46,746 direct beneficiaries
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One of the 280 keyhole gardens that have been constructed as part of this project. Seasonal survey data reveals that keyhole gardens heavily increase the production, diversity and consumption of vegetables. According to Terre des hommes, at baseline, 70% households consumed vegetables that they produced; after two years of keyhole gardening, consumption of vegetables by the households increased to nearly 90%.
34% of rural children under five years-old in West Bengal suffer from stunting, 22% from wasting and 25% of women of reproductive age have a body mass index (BMI) below the recommended cut-off value of 18.5 kg/m2. 
 
For drinking water, the population of the Canning-II Block in the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal depends on a limited number of shallow tube wells. These tube wells are often poorly located, requiring villagers (mostly women and girls) to walk up to 2 kilometres to reach them. This amounts to an average round trip of 45 - 60 minutes during normal weather conditions. In addition, existing tube wells draw water from the upper aquifer which is generally saline and unfit for consumption. Many of the existing tube wells are constructed without raised platforms to protect them during floods, thus increasing the risk of contamination and often limiting access. Poor access to safe drinking water and sanitation, together with inadequate dietary intake, result in recurrent illnesses, in particular waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea. During the baseline assessment performed at the start of the project, Terre des hommes learned that 27.3% of under five children in the target area had suffered from diarrhoea in the previous two week period. 
 
Terre des hommes hope to improve mother and child health in the flood-prone Canning-II Block of West Bengal by enhancing water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), nutrition and health care practices. Key activities will include (i) supporting the construction of 250 keyhole gardens, (ii) constructing 30 communal tubewells with platforms raised above the maximum flood level and 250 Ecological sanitation toilets; and (iii) improving hygiene and infant feeding practices through Participatory Learning Action
 
Some of the changes that Terre des hommes hope to achieve during the grant period include:
  • Reducing the percentage of U5 children with low weight-for-age from an estimated 35.3% to 24.3%.
  • Reducing the prevalence of diarrhoea among U5 children by 10%.
  • Ensuring that 54% of the population in the target area has access to improved drinking water in all weather conditions (baseline 8.4%)
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Everyone Forever, Rwanda​
Water For People
£600,000
January 2019 – September 2021
756,155


PictureCommunity members filling up at a community water tap. Water users pay a fixed tariff per jerrycan of water collected. Water For People advocate to ensure that tariffs charged are, on the one hand, affordable to community members and, on the other, sufficient to cover operation and maintenance costs. Photograph courtesy of Water For People.

Through their impact model known as Everyone Forever, Water For People aim to reach Everyone in a district; providing reliable water and sanitation services for every family, clinic, and school. To ensure water and sanitation services are sustainable, Water For People builds capacity in communities, service providers and governments to invest in appropriate long-term water and sanitation solutions.
 
According to the Joint Monitoring Programme, only 57% of Rwandans have a basic level of service for drinking water, while an estimated 62% have basic sanitation services, demonstrating a genuine need to invest in water and sanitation. Water For People has been working in Rwanda since 2008 and currently implements the Everyone Forever model in three Rwandan districts. 
 
Key activities to be implemented during the grant period include:

  • Construction of gravity-fed and pumped water systems to reach 60+ communities (expected to benefit over 80,000 household-level water users);
  • Construction of communal taps in schools and clinics; and rainwater harvesting tanks and latrines in schools (expected to reach over 15,000 people);
  • Public hygiene campaigns;
  • Building the capacity of the national government, district governments and private operators to sustain and manage water systems.
  • Training entrepreneurs and small businesses to offer scalable, market-based sanitation solutions. 
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Mteteza Madzi (or Water Protector) - Dispensers for Safe Water, Malawi
Evidence Action
US$ 737,975
January 2018 to December 2020
682,488 direct beneficiaries



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Through this project over 650,000 people in rural Zomba will be able to treat water with chlorine thereby preventing diarrheal diseases. Photograph courtesy of Evidence Action.
Evidence Action take evidence-backed cost-effective development interventions to scale, working to turn successful trials into sustainable large-scale organisations. We were asked to contribute to one of their main programmes: Dispensers for Safe Water.
 
Diarrhoeal diseases are among the leading causes of under-5 mortality. Safe drinking water is widely accepted as a key intervention in the prevention of diarrhoea. Dispensers for Safe Water treat water with chlorine: a proven, low- cost water treatment solution. The programme consists of three components: (1) installation of chlorine dispensers directly at local water sources; (2) working with local community promoters who market, maintain, and refill the dispensers; and (3) overseeing a locally-staffed delivery and repair supply chain. 
 
The Malawi programme started as a small pilot in the Zomba District in 2013 and now serves 652,073 people through 3,772 confirmed chlorine dispensers, covering 99% of the Zomba District. Evidence Action have achieved and maintained a remarkably high chlorine adoption rate of over 80% among its Malawian beneficiaries. 
 
The Charity’s grant was used for: (i) continued chlorine procurement and delivery, (ii) dispenser maintenance and repair, (iii) training/retraining promoters and government Health Surveillance Agents (who conduct community education, chlorine stock control and provide feedback to Evidence Action in the event of dispenser breakdowns/damage), (iv) mobilisation of the community to maintain the high adoption rate and (v) generation of carbon finance. 
 
Thanks to this project:

  • The percentage of under-5 children reported to have had diarrhoea in the previous two weeks has reduced from the pre-programme baseline of 13.6% to 5.5%.
  • The percentage of households with chlorine residual in household drinking water during unannounced visits has increased from the pre-programme baseline of 1% to 77%.

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Water For Life, Malawi​​
WaterAid
£200,000
April 2018 – March 2019 (project year 3)
159,924 actual (vs 442,400 target)


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Lottie, Medical Technician in-charge, washing his hands before treating a patient at Chamwabvi Health Centre, Kasungu, Malawi, November 2017. WaterAid/Dennis Lupenga.
According to WaterAid only 25% of health clinics in Malawi have access to clean water, 8% have no toilets at all and 54% do not have waste receptacles. As a result, clinics are not hygienic and midwives are unable to wash their hands between deliveries, increasing the risk of bacterial infections, often fatal for mothers and newborns. This project focussed on delivering water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions to health clinics and communities in the Nkhotakota, Kasungu and Machinga districts of Malawi. 
 
Thanks to this project:

  • 16 health facilities have improved, inclusive WASH facilities.
  • Over 600 community facilitators and health facility staff were trained on WASH and Mother and Newborn Health.
  • 98% of women in the target areas gave birth at health centres (vs 91% before the project began)
  • 43,764 people gained access to sustainable and inclusive WASH services.
  • Close to 200,000 people were reached with hygiene promotion activities. This was lower than expected but WaterAid are continuing their hygiene work in the target areas.
James Percy Foundation
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