WASH Strategic Plan 2022 - 2025
 

The WASH Strategic Plan 2022 – 2025 was developed by Kumbal Support Initiative (KSi) board of directors along with Executive Director and contributions from Staffs and Volunteers through a comprehensive need’s assessment and analytical study in November 2021. A series of assessments were conducted to identify priorities and areas for development and to steer the content of the strategic plan. This process also involved engaging Nigerian WASH sector group, cluster principles and approaches as per its ToR.

 

The strategic plan is first of its kind for WASH Programming within KSi, this would nonetheless establish the very foundations for a long-term strategic position to ensure high quality of KSi’s WASH interventions across Nigeria and Lake Chad Regions. It is projected that the Strategic Plan will serve as an outline for the establishment of harmonised regional WASH strategies that will in return contribute to the realization of the objectives outlined herein. In line with this, KSi staffs and volunteers are encouraged to embrace the plan and support its implementation.

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Why WASH

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In 2010 the United Nations General Assembly explicitly recognized water and sanitation as human rights that are “essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights”. An increasingly robust body of evidence further highlights the importance of WASH within the global development agenda and for KSi’s mandate for vulnerable communities.

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Rapid and effective WASH interventions are critical for saving the lives of women, children and disabled individuals across a range of crises and complex humanitarian situations due to conflict, forced migration, disease outbreaks and public health emergencies, acute and chronic malnutrition, and natural disasters. These interventions are increasingly needed: over the last ten years, the number of people who need humanitarian assistance has more than doubled.

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Poor WASH is the main cause of faecally-transmitted infections (FTIs), including cholera and diarrhea disease, which remains the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children under the age of five and the leading cause of death in Sub-Saharan Africa. Poor WASH is also strongly associated with malaria, polio and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) such as guinea worm, schistosomiasis, helminths and trachoma that have a debilitating effect on children and their communities.

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BAY States WASH Situation

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Source: HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE PLAN 2021 - PERIODIC MONITORING REPORT NIGERIA January-June 2021

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Emerging Needs for Change

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1) BORNO STATE Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Needs:

• WASH services are needed for the over 4,000 newly arrived households in Returned Settlements.

• A lack of space for sanitation facilities in camps within remote LGA has resulted in rampant open defecation.

• The camp closures have resulted in increased informal settlements. Families are living in poor shelter conditions with little to no WASH services in most locations, leading to open defecation and water consumption from unsafe sources.

• Host communities with large IDP populations in Remote LGAs are experiencing constraints on the existing water systems.

• Limited rainfall in several locations has resulted in low water recharge for the aquifer. The groundwater technical working group reported a significant reduction in groundwater levels.

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2) ADAMAWA Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Needs:

• Most areas affected by the cholera outbreak reported gaps in critical WASH services, especially a lack of water supply.

• This has resulted in people using unsafe and polluted water sources.

• Gaps in access to water are reported in most schools, including deplorable sanitation. Some schools have reported poor or non-existing functional latrines for children and opting for open defecation.

• There is a need to intensify water quality analysis across locations. Water vendors have been identified as high-risk transmission routes.

• Water supplies need to be improved through water trucking, construction of new water points and rehabilitation and maintenance of broken-down water supply facilities in some LGAs.

• Caregivers of malnourished children must be provided with basic household NFIs, water storage and hygiene kits in communities.

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3) YOBE Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Needs:

• More partner support is needed to scale-up waterpoint chlorination, profiling, testing and supervision across the affected LGAs.

• There is inadequate support and resources to scale-up active case searching and to sustain high-level infection prevention and control in communities and health facilities.

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WASH Strategic Goals

1) WASH Strategic Goal 1:

          To deliver qualitative WASH interventions for most vulnerable and disabled individuals

2) WASH Strategic Goal 2:

          To become a major contributing partner within the wash sector while working alongside other partners

3) WASH Strategic Goal 3:

          To cover more hard-to-reach remote locations within Northeast and Lake Chad regions

4) WASH Strategic Goal 4:

          To develop our staffs and volunteers’ capacities in WASH activity implementation

5) WASH Strategic Goal 5:

          To ensure the provision of a minimum standard of WASH as per the international SPHERE standards for people                  affected by an emergency, including water supply, excreta disposal, solid waste management, hygiene promotion                  and facilities, drainage and vector control

6) WASH Strategic Goal 6:

          To maintain Climate actions and adopt principles that mitigate climate change

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WASH Strategic Goals

1) WASH in Health Facilities:

Effective WASH in health facilities is essential to ensure a healthy environment with good infection control. As health facilities are the places where people who are sick go to be treated, cleanliness and infection control is critical.

• Establishing governance systems for the management, operation and maintenance of the WASH facilities, particularly the cleanliness of latrines and keeping hand-washing facilities functioning.

• Accessible water supply with good drainage and provision of safe water for drinking for patients and staffs.

• Latrines for patients and staff (separate if possible) with functioning hand-washing facilities with soap and good drainage, which must be accessible to people with disabilities or people with limited mobility

• Cleanable bedpans, potties and / or other vestibules for containing feaces or vomit would be readily made available as well as a plentiful supply of disinfectants and soap

• Appropriate solid waste collection and disposal mechanisms including separate safe disposal for medical and infectious waste through incineration or disposal in sealed pits and safe disposal of sharps

• Hygiene education and promotion as part of the health education sessions undertaken at the health facilities

• to ensure adequate availability of appropriate IEC materials and tools within the facility

• Where food is prepared on the premises, then a kitchen and dining area that is hygienic and cleanable should also be available

2) WASH in Learning Institutions:

• Establishing governance systems for the management and O&M of the WASH facilities

• Provision of accessible water supply with good drainage and provision of safe water for drinking

• Provision of Gender and child sensitive WASH sanitation facilities (e.g. separate girls and boys toilet blocks, smaller drop holes for small children) 

• Provide adequate safety and privacy as well as hand-washing facilities with water and soap nearby

• Provide accessible one drop hole for children and or teachers with disability by incorporating simple modifications to existing designs (more space, wider door, handrail and a cleanable seat)

• Provide appropriate solid waste collection and disposal mechanisms

• Promote the addition of hygiene education and inclusion as part of the curriculum

• Ensure availability of appropriate IEC materials and participatory tools within the institutions

3) WASH for Protection (GBV):

• Consult separately girls, boys, women, and men, including older people and those with disabilities, to ensure that WASH programs are designed so as to provide equitable access and reduce risks of violence

• Ensure that girls, boys, women, and men, including older people and those with disabilities have access to appropriate and safe WASH services

• Ensure that girls, boys, women, and men, including older people and those with disabilities, have access to feedback & complaint mechanisms so that corrective actions can address their specific protection and assistance needs

• Monitor and evaluate safe and equitable access and use of WASH services in WASH projects

• Give priority to girls (particularly adolescents) and women’s participation in the consultation process

4) WASH for Social Inclusion:

• Facilitate conversations with male and other family members of the career to promote shared responsibilities of caring, to allow time for the career to participate in a community group or meetings

• encourage their participation in locally active mothers’ groups to promote inclusion and interaction with other community members

• facilitate connections of women with disability who are not mothers to other relevant community groups and programs

5) WASH in Nutrition:

• Handwashing with soap

• Safe disposal of infant feces

• Safe water treatment and storage

• Exclusive breastfeeding

• Complimentary feeding

6) Climate Resilient WASH:

• Provide a foundation to ensure that subsequent programming and implementation incorporate considerations of climate risks

• Identify elements of good practice for managing current climate variability and risks that may also contribute to managing future risks

• Identify opportunities for innovative approaches to manage climate risks and to strengthen climate resilience

• Identify cross-sectoral influences on WASH services and provide the impetus for engagement, collaboration and shared learning with stakeholders from outside the WASH sector 

• Provide evidence on what amendments might be warranted in order to address climate risks and to strengthen climate resilience.

7) WASH for Sustainable Livelihood:

​The WASH sustainability linked to livelihood approach are not new. What is new is the effort to focus, in a systematic way, on people as the center of concerns and in particular on people’s assets and capabilities to undertake innovative water and sanitation activities to improve their lives. While other approaches have focused on the poor as beneficiaries and later as consumers, here the effort is also to highlight the role poor people perform as producers and workers, generating an income and employment, and as citizens, who take decisions about their immediate and societal needs.

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WASH Strategic Goals

The Sphere Minimum Standards for water supply, sanitation and hygiene promotion (WASH) are a practical expression of the right to access water and sanitation in humanitarian contexts. The standards are grounded in the beliefs, principles, duties and rights declared in the Humanitarian Charter. These include the right to life with dignity, the right to protection and security, and the right to receive humanitarian assistance on the basis of need through these strategies:

1. Disease and Infection Rate Control

2. Community Centered

3. WASH Community Engagement

4. Multi-sectoral Approach

5. Mainstreaming Protection in WASH Responses

6. Evidence-Based Programming and Monitoring

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