General Emergency

The purpose of this document is to provide practical guidance on market-based programming (MBP) in humanitarian WASH responses. This guidance is intended for:

• Humanitarian WASH practitioners
• Cash and markets practitioners
• Humanitarian business support teams supporting WASH programmes
• WASH Cluster/Sector coordinators

This document introduces concrete steps that can be followed and implemented in line with the key phases of the humanitarian programme management cycle:

Emergency responses in humanitarian contexts require rapid set-up of water supply. Boreholes are often drilled where the needs are highest and not where hydrogeological conditions are most favourable. The Rapid Groundwater Potential Mapping (RGWPM) methodology was therefore developed as a practical tool to support borehole siting when time is critical, allowing strategic planning of geophysical campaigns.

Water trucking is a commonly implemented, but severely under-researched, drinking water supply intervention in humanitarian response. To fill this research gap, we conducted three mixed-methods water trucking program evaluations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Bangladesh, including interviews, water point observations, household surveys, focus groups, and water quality testing. Results indicated that the programs had complex implementation structures involving multiple agencies and limited infrastructure to properly collect, treat, and deliver water.

This is an excel overview of the MBP in WASH resource database. All the resources were reviewed by the consultants for the Evidence Building Study in 2020 (GWC). These resources are included in this database and represent a comprehensive library of MBP in WASH resources.

All the resources were reviewed by the consultants for the Evidence Building Study in 2020 (GWC). These resources are included in this database and represent a comprehensive library of MBP in WASH resources.

Of the two billion people worldwide lacking access to at least basic sanitation, seven out of ten live in rural areas (JMP 2019). Progress has been made on increasing rural sanitation and access levels are rising, but challenges remain in reaching the ‘last mile’ or some 10 to 20 per cent of the population (Apanga et al. 2020; UNICEF 2015).

Where large groups of people are displaced either by conflict or by natural disaster and they are likely to stay in a location for periods in excess of a few weeks, there will be a need to establish and probably subsequently upgrade a centralised water treatment system. This guideline focuses on community level needs where “bulk water treatment” is required. It is devised by the Oxfam Public Health Engineering Team to help provide a reliable water supply where mass displacement of people has occurred, e.g. as found in refugee camps and relief centres.

In a crisis, humanitarians are often responsible for providing or repairing handwashing infrastructure for the affected population. This creates an opportunity for us to build infrastructure and provide products which encourage people to practice handwashing with soap.

Handwashing is a critical practice that is promoted to protect public health, especially during outbreaks of infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Handwashing stations are used both in emergencies and in other contexts to provide locations for people to wash hands with soap. In refugee camps and internal displacement centres, units for handwashing should be installed both at households and next to latrines and in communal areas, such as in markets, schools, and health centres. This document lists a range of options for handwashing stations.

Despite the increasing use of market-based modalities in the humanitarian WASH sector, considerable barriers still exist to using them at scale. With the aim of addressing these barriers, the GWC Markets TWiG commissioned this systematic review of practices and evidence of MBP in the WASH sector.

This study reviewed all available documents which describe practices related to the use of market support or CVA modalities to achieve WASH outcomes and impact in emergencies, as well as documents which describe the evidence of effect of these modalities on WASH outcomes.