Water For People – Strengthening public sector enabling environments to support sanitation enterprises, 2014.

January 20, 2015 · 0 comments

Strengthening public sector enabling environments to support sanitation enterprises, 2014. Water For People.

Water For People is piloting sanitation business approaches and seeks to discover under what conditions these approaches are successful. Public sector influence is one condition that has the potential to facilitate or hinder private sector sanitation endeavors.

This study aims to understand: (1) how the public sector enabling environment can facilitate or hinder low-cost sanitation enterprises; and (2) how NGOs can effectively engage the public sector to support sanitation businesses. Data were collected from Water For People staff and partners in nine countries and summary case studies were coded to discover prevailing themes.

Triggering Increased City-Level Public Finance for Pro-Poor Sanitation Improvements The Role of Political Economy and Fiscal Instruments

January 20, 2015 · 0 comments

Triggering Increased City-Level Public Finance for Pro-Poor Sanitation Improvements The Role of Political Economy and Fiscal Instruments, 2014. Urban; WSUP.

Authors: Jamie Boex; Benjamin Edwards.

The goal of this background paper is to provide a general framework for understanding the political economy and fiscal determinants of sanitation service provision by urban local governments. The paper will review existing literature to begin answering several questions: what do we expect to influence spending on local sanitation? Do different fiscal instruments have an impact on expenditure levels? Do increased local revenues lead to increased expenditures over the long term? What role do different stakeholders play in determining expenditure levels?

The paper first briefly looks at the role of political factors in constraining local expenditure decisions. Having established the political context fors anitation finance, the paper then turns to a more in-depth review of the fiscal determinants of service delivery expenditures.

USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partner with Ministry of Urban Development to help India achieve sanitation for all

January 20, 2015 · 0 comments

Jan 14 – USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation partner with Ministry of Urban Development to help India achieve sanitation for all | Source: NRI News

New Delhi (Jan. 14, 2015): The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the Swachh Bharat Clean India Mission, launched by the Government of India on October 2, 2014.

The MoUD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with USAID and a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These agreements formalize a shared commitment to providing sustainable sanitation solutions in urban areas, eliminating open defecation, and safely containing, treating, and disposing of human waste.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide technical and management support for successful implementation of the urban sanitation program, including the set-up of a national Program Management Unit (PMU) within the MoUD.

USAID will establish a knowledge partnership with the MoUD to identify and scale best practices, build technical capacity, and advance public-private partnership focused on sanitation. USAID will also link to the Government of India’s “Smart Cities” initiative, promoting water and sanitation as an essential element of sustainable and inclusive urban development.

[click to continue…]

Bookmark and Share

A new screening instrument for disability in low-income and middle-income settings

January 12, 2015 · 0 comments

A new screening instrument for disability in low-income and middle-income settings: application at the Iganga-Mayuge Demographic Surveillance System (IM-DSS), Uganda. BMJ Open. 2014 Dec 19;4(12):e005795. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2014-005795.

Authors: Bachani AM, Galiwango E, Kadobera D, Bentley JA, Bishai D, Wegener S, Hyder AA.

OBJECTIVE: The measurement of disability in low-income countries is recognised as a major deficiency in health information systems, especially in Africa. The Iganga and Mayuge Demographic Surveillance System (IM-DSS) in Uganda provides a special opportunity to develop population-based data to inform national health policies and evaluate innovations in assessing the burden of disability in Uganda. In this study, we apply a new instrument to screen for physical disabilities at the IM-DSS. The study utilised a modified version of the short set of questions proposed by the Washington Group on Disability Statistics. The instrument was applied at the household level and information was collected on all individuals over the age of 5, who were residents of the IM-DSS.
SETTING: The study was based at the IM-DSS, which covers the parts of Iganga and Mayuge districts in Eastern Uganda.
PARTICIPANTS: 57 247 individuals were included in the survey, with 51% of the study population being women.
PRIMARY OUTCOMES: Activity limitations
RESULTS: The overall prevalence of physical disability at the IM-DSS was 9.4%, with vision being the most common type of difficulty reported in this population, and communication being least prevalent. Disability was less likely to be observed among males than their female counterparts (OR 0.75; 95% CI 0.71 to 0.81; p<0.001). Statistically significant associations were found between disability and increasing age, as well as disability and decreasing household wealth status.
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the modified short set of questions can be readily applied in a DSS setting to obtain estimates on the prevalence and types of disability at the population level. This instrument could be adapted for use to screen for disability in other LMIC settings, providing estimates that are comparable across different global regions and populations.

Gordon McGranahan – Realizing the Right to Sanitation in Deprived Urban Communities

January 12, 2015 · 0 comments

Realizing the Right to Sanitation in Deprived Urban Communities: Meeting the Challenges of Collective Action, Coproduction, Affordability, and Housing Tenure. World Development, Vol. 68, Jan 2015 pp. 242–253, 2015.

Author: Gordon McGranahan, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), London, UK.

There are serious institutional challenges associated with low-cost sanitation in deprived urban communities. These include a collective action challenge, a coproduction challenge, a challenge of affordability versus acceptability, and a challenge related to housing tenure.

This paper examines these challenges, revealing both the importance of community-driven sanitation improvement and its difficulties. The nature of the challenges, and the means by which two successful community-driven initiatives have overcome them, suggest that while recognizing the human right to sanitation is important this should not be taken to imply that typical rights-based approaches are the appropriate means of realizing this right.

Jan 9, 2-15 – Abstract submission deadline for International Conference on Urban Health

January 5, 2015 · 0 comments

International Conference on Urban Health 2015 Website

  • Jan 9, 2015 – Abstract submission deadline for International Conference on Urban Health

Conference Themes

Theme One: Addressing socioeconomic and environmental determinants of urban health and health inequities

Understanding how the urban context shapes population health and where interventions are best focused to improve and sustain health and health equity requires attention to a range of social, economic and environmental determinants and their impacts.  Conference organizers are particularly interested in learning of successful (and failed) interventions that address these broader determinants which are key to sustaining health improvement in urban areas.

Theme Two: Urban health care and public health service provision across the life course

Dramatic changes in disease trends in the urban environment and their implications over the life course demand innovative prevention and treatment strategies. Current evidence on challenges associated with the dual burden of communicable and non-communicable disease, the impact of urban lifestyles, gender inequity, and changing demographics such as aging, need to be addressed in both  urban planning and the implementation of public and privately funded  direct services.

Theme Three: Measuring, mapping and monitoring urban health

Rapid unplanned urbanization can quickly overwhelm the provision of basic public services such as transport, water and sanitation, food security, health and social care and housing, the health consequences of which disproportionately impact the urban poor.  It is important that cities and organizations working in partnerships for governance of cities have the capability to identify and monitor the health status of their populations, especially  health disparities; rates of urban in and out-migration; the availability of  health, social and educational services and methods  to locate gaps in coverage; factors known to impact the health of urban citizens such as air quality, energy demands, and availability of adequate water and sanitation, is critical.  New methodologies and approaches are needed to measure, map and monitor urban health to ensure accountability and provide critical evidence to plan for the future.

Theme Four: Strengthening governance for urban health

In many countries, rapid urbanization and the rise of megacities has overwhelmed the capacity of local government to provide for urban citizens. Effective urban governance is needed to ensure access to basic health and social services, and to create and sustain a healthy urban environment. Urban policies that guide planning and decision making around health, and urban governance structures and processes that ensure service coverage and quality, emergency preparedness, and social protection, are critical.  New approaches to working with the private sector and information communications technologies offer promise, but regulatory issues and standard setting need to be addressed.

 

Urban Water Supply and Sanitation in Southeast Asia: A Guide to Good Practice

January 5, 2015 · 0 comments

Urban Water Supply and Sanitation in Southeast Asia: A Guide to Good Practice, 2014.

Arthur C. McIntosh, Asian Development Bank.

Objective – This book provides stakeholders (governments, development partners, utilities, consultants, donors, academe, media, civil society, and nongovernment organizations) with a point of reference and some tools for moving forward effectively and efficiently in the urban water supply and sanitation sector in Southeast Asia. New generations of water professionals should not have to repeat the mistakes of the past. Instead they should be able to take what has been learned so far and move forward. To facilitate this process, this book was designed to improve understanding and awareness of the issues and possible solutions among all stakeholders in the sector.

Scope – This book focuses on six countries in Southeast Asia—Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Field data were obtained from 14 utilities in these six countries. Future studies should bolster the analysis of sanitation, now still regrettably weak for lack of data.

Jan 8, 2015 webinar – Multi-sectoral Approaches to Improve Child Growth, through WASH, Nutrition, and Early Childhood Development

January 5, 2015 · 0 comments

You are invited to a webinar on Multi-sectoral Approaches to Improve Child Growth, through WASH, Nutrition, and Early Childhood Development

  • Co-hosted by the USAID WASHplus Project and CORE Group
  • When: Thursday, January 08, 2015 (10:00 AM – 11:00 AM EST)

Description: The CORE Group Nutrition and Social and Behavior Change Working Groups, in collaboration with the USAID WASHplus Project, are excited to host a one-hour webinar on multi-sectoral approaches to improve child growth and development; with a focus on improving the community knowledge of practice and sharing integration efforts for ECD, nutrition and WASH integration. The Clean, Fed & Nurtured community of practice will explain why water, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, and early childhood development should be integrated. A 35-minute presentation will be followed by 25 minutes of facilitated discussion. We hope you will join us!

Presenters

  • Renuka Bery, WASHplus, FHI 360
  • Katherine Merseth, Save the Children
  • Ann Jimerson, Alive & Thrive, FHI 360
  • Rica Rosario, Alive & Thrive, FHI 360
  • Hanna Woodburn, Global Public Private Partnership for Handwashing

 

Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Urban Slums: Experiences from Nairobi, Kenya

December 9, 2014 · 0 comments

Vulnerability to Food Insecurity in Urban Slums: Experiences from Nairobi, Kenya. J Urban Health. Dec 2014; 91(6): 1098–1113.

Authors: E. W. Kimani-Murage,corresponding author L. Schofield, F. Wekesah, S. Mohamed, B. Mberu, R. Ettarh, T. Egondi, C. Kyobutungi, and A. Ezeh

This study describes the food security situation among slum residents in Nairobi, with specific focus on vulnerability associated with the 2007/2008 postelection crisis in Kenya. Food security was defined using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) criteria. The study found high prevalence of food insecurity; 85 % of the households were food insecure, with 50 % being severely food insecure. Factors associated with food security include level of income, source of livelihood, household size, dependence ratio; illness, perceived insecurity and slum of residence. The qualitative narratives highlighted household vulnerability to food insecurity as commonplace but critical during times of crisis. Respondents indicated that residents in the slums generally eat for bare survival, with little concern for quality. The narratives described heightened vulnerability during the 2007/2008 post election violence in Kenya in the perception of slum residents. Prices of staple foods like maize flour doubled and simultaneously household purchasing power was eroded due to worsened unemployment situation. The use of negative coping strategies to address food insecurity such as reducing the number of meals, reducing food variety and quality, scavenging, and eating street foods was prevalent.

In conclusion, this study describes the deeply intertwined nature of chronic poverty and acute crisis, and the subsequent high levels of food insecurity in urban slum settings. Households are extremely vulnerable to food insecurity; the situation worsening during periods of crisis in the perception of slum residents, engendering frequent use of negative coping strategies. Effective response to addressing vulnerability to household food insecurity among the urban poor should focus on both the underlying vulnerabilities of households due to chronic poverty and added impacts of acute crises.

Informal settlements and a relational view of health in Nairobi, Kenya: sanitation, gender and dignity

December 9, 2014 · 0 comments

Informal settlements and a relational view of health in Nairobi, Kenya: sanitation, gender and dignity. Health Promo Intl, Nov 2014.

Jason Corburn1,* and Irene Karanja2. 1City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley, 228 Wurster Hall, Berkeley, CA, USA 2Muungano Support Trust, Nairobi, Kenya. E-mail: jcorburn@berkeley.edu

On an urban planet, slums or informal settlements present an increasing challenge for health promotion. The living conditions in complex informal settlements interact with how people navigate through their daily lives and political institutions to shape health inequities. In this article, we suggest that only a relational place-based characterization of informal settlements can accurately capture the forces contributing to existing urban health inequities and inform appropriate and effective health promotion interventions.

We explore our relational framework using household survey, spatial mapping and qualitative focus group data gathered in partnership with residents and non-governmental organizations in the Mathare informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. All data interpretation included participation with local residents and organizations. We focus on the inter-relationships between inadequate sanitation and disease, social, economic and human rights for women and girls, who we show are most vulnerable from poor slum infrastructure.

We suggest that this collaborative process results in co-produced insights about the meanings and relationships between infrastructure, security, resilience and health. We conclude that complex informal settlements require relational and context-specific data gathering and analyses to understand the multiple determinants of health and to inform appropriate and effective healthy city interventions.

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →