Water Access

This background paper focuses on supporting sustainable, equitable and resilient water services over the short and long term during protracted crises and for post-crisis reconstruction in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (WASH) gap analysis project was funded by The Humanitarian  Innovation Fund (HIF), a program managed by Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA) in partnership with the Active Learning Network for Accountability and

Inadequate sanitation, inadequate water supplies and poor hygiene are critical determinants for survival of victims of natural disasters and conflict situations, especially in the initial stages of a disaster.

Background.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions are amongst the most crucial in humanitarian crises, although the impact of the different WASH interventions on health outcomes remains unclear.

There are increasing numbers of people affected by natural disasters, disease outbreaks, and conflict. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions are used in nearly all emergency responses to help reduce disease risk.

This evidence synthesis identifies, synthesizes and evaluates existing evidence of the impacts of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions in disease outbreaks in 51 humanitarian contexts in 19 low and middle-income countries.

In September 2016, Médecins Sans Frontières responded to a hepatitis E (HEV) outbreak in Chad by implementing water treatment and hygiene interventions. To evaluate the coverage and use of these interventions, we conducted a cross-sectional study in the community.

We evaluated the ability of UNICEF-designed pot-chlorinators to achieve recommended free residual chlorine (FRC) levels in well water in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, during a cholera outbreak. Thirty wells were randomly selected from six neighbourhoods.

Children under 18 can represent 50% or more of a crisis-affected population.