Water & Sanitation

The world is running out of water and needs a radical plan to tackle shortages that threaten the ability of humanity to feed itself. The breadbaskets of India and China were facing severe water shortages and neither Asian giant could use the same strategies for increasing food production that has fed millions in the last few decades. "In 2050 we will have 9 billion people and average income will be four times what it is today. India and China have been able to feed their populations because they use water in an unsustainable way. That is no longer possible,".
Guardian, 22 Jan

The Office of National Statistics published report show some striking changes in household food consumption in the year up to April 2006. We are spending more on fruit (13% up) and vegetables (up 6% not including potatoes). Sweets and soft drinks purchases are down by 8% and 6%. Vitamin C intake was driven up nearly 7%, driven by the fruit and veg intake.


Water & Sanitation Education

Preparatory investigations

a water and sanitation education programme should be informed about local situation and people’s perceptions of problems and solutions. The reasons for an investigation into social and health related aspects do not differ basically from the reasons for technical survey. Who is going to waste money on borehole drilling without thorough investigation on soil condition, and water provision. Another reason for investigating social and health aspects is that they have an important influence on successful development of the technical component.

Type of information
The type and depth of information in required depends on the project phase and the reason why the information is needed. In an early stage of the project when basic decisions have to be made about the scope of the hygienic education programme and the inputs required, it may be sufficient to have a tentative assessment of people’s health problems related to water and sanitation and of possible ways to reduce these problems. For a detailed hygiene education action plan however, it will be necessary to know more about how people behave and difficulties people face when trying to make improvements, and what openings there are for the project to help overcome these difficulties.

Type of investigation
Collection of information on social and health related aspects in the first phases of a project are known by several names. These different names only partly reflect different types of investigation, as will be clear from the short descriptions below. All are a sort of baseline study or formative evaluation and aim to help the hygiene education programme to take shape and to provide a baseline for monitoring and evaluation.

Situation analysis
A situation analysis is usually a rather broad undertaking to collect data necessary for rational planning and programming. It seeks to identify the main problems affecting health related to water and sanitation and the opportunities for action for improvements. Often it is a rather distant activity, more oriented to getting the project informed than to getting the community motivated and involved. It often results in a series of quantitative data for example population figures together with broad qualitative impressions, for example on the general health situation or the need for improved water supply and users practices.

Knowledge&Attitude study
It aims to provide project staff with a more intimate understanding of people’s knowledge, attitudes and practices with regard to water, sanitation and health. Some people tend to use this type of study on the wrong assumption that proper knowldege will lead to proper attitudes and then to proper behaviour. Transfer of information does not lead automatically to change of behaviour. However, when knowledge, attitudes and practices are not put in a causal sequence but regarded as three important influencing factors, such a comprehensive study of three issues may be very valuable for the design of a hygiene education programme.

Sources of information
Information can be collected in a variety of ways, such as:
-informal discussions with individuals and groups;
- interviews discussions based on checklists with individuals, such as a household member, primary school teacher, community representative, health worker, women’s leader;
- group interviews; joint based on checklists, for example with mothers of small children, members of a local organization, neighbourhood groups, school aged children;
- focus group interviews, in which a homogeneous group freely exchanges on a specific subject;
- household surveys using a questionnaire, in which case care should be taken that not only either male or female household members are included to prevent getting a distorted picture;
- observation at household and community level for example through visiting water and sanitation sites during environmental walks;
- participant observation in which the investigator remains some weeks or months in the community, observing and recording the activities and events of daily life;
Screening of available documentation and statistical data.

Such a first investigation takes time as a one off affair, only repeated for evaluation or for preparation of a new project period. People’s involvement in investigations can range from passive information providers to active participants. At one extreme, project staff decide what information is collected from whom, by whom, where and when, at the other, community groups and local workers participate actively in all activities. The highest form of community participation is community self study, in which the project only provides advice on request.

Source: www.oxfam.org.uk

Humanitarian co-ordination

Humanitarian co-ordination is based on the belief that a coherent co-operative response to an emergency by those actors engaged in humanitarian response will maximise the benefits and minimise potential pitfalls of that response. All activities that involve more than one actor require some way of dividing activities among the different actors, and some way of managing the interdependencies between the different activities. These different kinds of interdependencies can be managed by a variety of co-ordination mechanisms, such as: standardisation, where predetermined rules govern the performance of each activity; direct supervision, where one actor manages interdependencies on a case-by-case basis, and mutual adjustment, where each actor makes on-going adjustments to manage the interdependencies.

However, co-ordination is not an end in itself, but rather a tool to achieve the goal of saving lives and reducing suffering. This must be achieved by delivering the right assistance, to the right place, and at the right time – enabling those affected by conflict and disasters to achieve their rights to protection and assistance.

Each State has the responsibility first and foremost to take care of the victims of natural disasters and other emergencies occurring on its territory. The affected State has the primary role in the initiation, organisation, co-ordination, and implementation of humanitarian assistance within its territory.
• • • The magnitude and duration of many emergencies may be beyond the response capacity of many affected countries. International co-operation to address emergency situations and to strengthen the response capacity of affected countries is thus of great importance. Such co-operation should be provided in accordance with international law and national laws.
Effective humanitarian response requires effective co-ordination of national and international responses. States hold the primary responsibility to meet the basic needs of their people, it is critical that national actors (government and civil society) be included in humanitarian response occurring within their territory. Any model aiming to enhance humanitarian response capacity must integrate with, and build on, existing national capacities although in some cases, such capacity/will is limited. Where significant government and civil society capacity exists, effective responses depend on creating genuine partnership between international and national efforts.
• Co-ordination of humanitarian assistance must use a common understanding of rights-based responses to humanitarian crises, as outlined in the Sphere Humanitarian Charter and, in particular, the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief. These rights are articulated in international human rights law, humanitarian law, and refugee law. These should guide co-operative planning, monitoring and evaluation of responses.
• o o o o o o o o • • • • • • • Good co-ordination of international humanitarian assistance requires:
Close co-operation with Government, local civil society institutions, and disaster- and/or conflict-affected communities, identifying capacities and needs.
Effective joint assessment of needs and elaboration of a joint strategy; a division of labour among humanitarian actors so that all needs are met; removal of gaps; good information sharing; good leadership on standards and accountability; adherence to best practice and codes of conduct; and an efficient use of resources.
Assigned leadership, trust, shared information, and co-operation by groups of agencies working in the same sector of humanitarian assistance.
Inclusiveness of several operational actors (UN and non-UN) with a lead co-ordination agency given responsibility to convince and actively ensure appropriate participation;
Clearly assigned responsibility to assess capacities in the sector, identify gaps, and decide how to fill them;
Lead co-ordination agency to fulfil their responsibilities do all possible to fill remaining gaps i.e. be the provider of last resort;
Commitment from sectors or clusters to work co-operatively with other groups/sectors to ensure coherence of response, and ensure that cross-cutting issues (like protection, gender, and the environment) are addressed; and
Ensure that people with the right profile and skills are provided to lead and facilitate.
Co-ordination of humanitarian action is enhanced by recognising the complementarity of different agencies modes of action. Co-ordination can be improved: by developing common criteria for assessing needs and measuring impact, and by establishing clear arrangements among humanitarian organisations regarding the geographic and thematic division of roles and responsibilities in a given context, based on the capacity and competencies of each organisation.
Co-ordination of humanitarian assistance must be based on quality programming and should ensure accountability to beneficiaries. Co-ordination of quality assistance must be based on the Sphere principles, standards, and indicators. These should form the common reference for co-ordination (see OI humanitarian quality policy in this series).
Co-ordination of humanitarian assistance must create bridges to the transition phase following conflicts and disasters. Better co-ordination of the exit strategies of humanitarian organisations and the entry strategies of development agencies is critical.
Humanitarian reform must not only focus on UN reform. Serious reform will ultimately lead to more effective and more reliable humanitarian response where it counts most in the field, for the people affected by disaster or conflict. It must engage international and local non-governmental actors. Engagement of civil society is a prerequisite to humanitarian reform.
The particular needs of women and children must be addressed at all stages of response. Cross-cluster co-ordination is required as are the continued links between sectors and clusters. Protection must be seen as the role of all humanitarian agencies, as a cross-cutting issue.
There is a need for an improved co-ordination of food security cluster in order to improve response and ensure coherence between actors and interventions which aim to ensure people are able to access their minimum food needs in emergencies and to ensure complementarity with longer-term food security strategies. Currently, emergency food security responses are dominated by food aid. There is a need to promote inter-agency mechanisms which ensure that a range of interventions (food aid, cash transfers, and livelihood support) are considered and utilised in humanitarian responses, according to needs and context. (see OI’s ‘Causing Hunger’ Briefing Paper, 2006, and the food aid policy in this series).
Oxfam welcomes the expanded role of UNHCR as the lead agency in protection for conflict-related emergencies, in addition to its mandated role with refugees.
apply this approach consistently to all situations involving internally displaced people (IDPs). This must not, however, detract from effective implementation of its on-going core mandated role of providing international protection for refugees.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • UN Humanitarian Coordinators (HC) should be appointed based on their demonstrated humanitarian experience and performance for the post. Because of this, the HC post should be separated from the post of UN Resident Coordinator (RC), unless the RC already has all the relevant skills; and is clearly accountable to the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator for her/his humanitarian performance.
The pool of HCs and cluster leads with the requisite skills must be rapidly expanded, through drawing from a variety of sources including humanitarian networks outside the UN. Enhanced training including knowledge of NGOs’ roles, principles, and standards is critical.
While recognising the importance of military logistics capacity at the early stages of some emergencies and the necessity of co-ordinating the delivery material assistance, humanitarian co-ordination must remain apart from the military and political operations of the UN. It must ensure ‘humanitarian space’ for assistance to be provided impartially and independently.

Source:
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/conflict_disasters/
downloads/oi_hum_policy_coordination.pdf

Research objectives

Environment an identity issue

Environmental democracy, the core subject of my studies builds on our identities in relation with other diverse bodies in the nature. Environmental crisis is above all a problem of knowledge and our democratic approach. It leads to rethinking identities in search of connecting, managing and improving complex relation with the environment. One dimension that has been much neglected in the past emanates from the impression as if it is costless and infinite. Environmental rationality seeks to reestablish the links between knowing, certainties, and purpose of our surroundings and the way we get on with them. We are defining new roles, concepts and spaces. Consequences of ignoring environmental signals and delaying environmental democracy have proved to be much greater than expected. For example global warming and water scarcity has become the major motivating factor for countries in central Asia to escalate into conflicts over access to water. Studies found that we survive today as a result of borrowing from the future. Pressing environment rationality implies the reconstitution of identities beyond instrumental modern thinking, calculating and planning. The solution to the global environmental crisis is based upon revising mind sets, perceptions and values that brings along institutional changes. Environmental democracy modifies the logic of the scientific control of the world, of the technological domination of nature, of the rational administration of the environment. And in so doing develops culture of adaptation to the nature. Over reliance on science that assisted to liberate man from underdevelopment and oppression has generated one dimensional alienated society. We ought to return to the nature and cherish it’s values in a sustainable manner.

My studies are focused on environment as an ‘identity issue’ that revolves around environmental democracy particularly access to water and its state of affairs for which I need reliable resources to compare behaviour, decision making and examine barriers and risks involved in different social contexts in our democratic response to global warming, over population and resource depletion.