The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) reported on the work of its volunteer experts in advancing the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) agenda at the national level in 16 countries in Asia and Africa.
The experts, known as WSSCC ‘national coordinators’, are nominated by their peers on the basis of their WASH expertise, and act as catalysts for action.
A WSSC report, ‘Connecting the Dots’, highlights the value, impact and cost-effectiveness of this approach.
28 May 2017: The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) has reported on the work of its volunteer experts in advancing the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) agenda at the national level in 16 countries in Asia and Africa. WSSCC’s volunteer experts, known as national coordinators, are nominated by their peers on the basis of their WASH expertise, and act as catalysts for action. A WSSC report, ‘Connecting the Dots,’ highlights the value, impact and cost-effectiveness of this approach.
National coordinators have promoted WASH in diverse ways, including through media training, joint advocacy, lobbying parliamentarians, running behavior change campaigns, and appointing respected “champions” of WASH. Coordinators in each country develop and coordinate a strategic engagement plan at the national level, and receive technical and financial support from the WSSCC Secretariat, reported as being US$1.7 million from 2013-16. WSSCC Executive Director Chris Williams, in a foreword to the ‘Connecting the Dots’ report, noted the value of national coordinators’ local knowledge and understanding of country contexts, and their ability to take innovative approaches. Achieving sanitation and hygiene for all is one of several targets under Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) on clean water and sanitation.
Kaleem called for breaking the silence on menstruation so that girls can learn to manage their periods safely and hygienically and avoid missing days at school.
On 4 May, WSSCC hosted an event on menstrual hygiene and women’s empowerment, with Unjela Kaleem, Head of External Affairs, Communications, and Country Support at WSSCC, and Sané Mbhele, Johnson and Johnson. Kaleem called for breaking the silence on menstruation so that girls can learn to manage their periods safely and hygienically and avoid missing days at school. Mbhele introduced her company’s #StayfreeToLearn campaign, which educates girls about puberty and menstruation management, and helps schools to provide clean and properly-equipped bathroom facilities, including the availability of sanitary pads. In one example of progress, the Uganda parliamentarians’ Forum on WASH facilitated a 2015 directive to all schools to provide sanitary pads, and ensured that national budget was allocated for this purpose.
Other examples of national coordinators’ work include a ‘Two Dollar Toilet’ campaign in Nepal, which promoted pit latrines in households as a first step to encouraging families to install working toilet facilities, and health education for rural communities in Benin, which tells people about the risks of parasitic and waterborne diseases stemming from open defecation.
National coordinators for WSSCC are active in Bangladesh, Benin, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The WSSCC is a membership organization hosted at the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Geneva, Switzerland. Its 3,600 members come from government, non-government and private sectors in 141 countries. The Council operates the Global Sanitation Fund, which, since 2008, has provided US$112 million to increase access to sanitation around the world. [WSSCC Press Release on Menstrual Hygiene Management] [WSSCC Press Release on WASH in Schools in Uganda] [Connecting the Dots’ Report] [WSSCC Press Release on Nepal Campaign] [WSSCC Press Release on Benin Campaign]