Sharing hygiene promotion approaches/Government sponsorship
Merri Weinger - Tuesday 23 May 2006
(This is a message from Merri Weinger, Program Manager, Hygiene Improvement, USAID)
I wanted to second the suggestion from Bruce Gordon encouraging sharing of successes and failures- with a special focus on experiences with different approaches to promoting selected POU technologies (e.g. social marketing, negotiating behavior change, building on existing platforms (e.g. antenatal care), etc.). Experiences in promotion of multiple options simultaneously would also be important to gather (e.g. Bolivian experience with boiling, SODIS and chlorination).
I was also interested in comments by several people on the need to get governments more actively involved in promotion and distribution of POU options. USAID is working with UNICEF, PSI and CDC in Malawi to introduce hygiene improvement (chlorination and handwashing with soap) as a component of antenatal care through the government clinic system and community outreach channels. While the government is interested in joining the team, human resources and time are limited. It seems that UNICEF, PSI, etc will take the lead in developing and launching the program. Gaining significant buy-in from the government will be challenging. We will keep you posted as we move towards implementation. What is needed to further engage government partners and ensure sustainability if seed funding is provided by international donors? Another area for sharing lessons learned.
Many thanks to the forum organizers. I’ve learned a lot and look forward to keeping the exchange going.
Merri
promotion experiences
Matthias Saladin - Tuesday 23 May 2006
Dear Merri,
In a nutshell:
- It was one of our core experiences in promoting HWTS in Latin America over the past 5 years that just talking about 1 method/technology is limited in its efficacy and sustainability. We started promoting SODIS, but since 2003 also include water boiling and chlorination. All these technologies are commonly available, even in rural areas, have proven health impact, and need no or very little upfront investment. In countries where ceramic filters are available, we also included them in our promotion - and we may extend the list further as soon as other technologies show a positive health impact. The fact that you can give options to the families increases the probability that they will choose any of them, and also the time they will keep using them. We have seen many families who actually use a mix of technologies, depending on the circumstances (weather, turbidity of the water, temperature, etc.).
As far as government involvement is concerned, we have made very positive experiences in several countries of Latin America. Currently, we support the Ministries of Health of El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru in promoting HWTS and hand washing, even though only on a pilot scale so far. They are definitely interested in bringing these pilot experiences to scale, and to involve other actors such as grassroot organizations, NGOs, schools, etc.
Sharing negative experiences: promoting one specific technology has been an experience of limited efficacy and sustainability for us and our NGO and government partners. We strongly believe in the multi-technology approach and have develped a specific methodology for promoting it. We are willing to share this experience with any institution interested - you can contact me at
msaladin@fundacionsodis.org
Cheers,
Matthias
