Dear Jaques,

Your report on Pakistan is interesting. I can see you have done significant research in producing the report. In Sindh, in addition to Karachi, you visited Thatta only. That puts a little limitation, though, I think, it could be due to security reasons. I can understand that.

In Sindh, the education department has a narrow focus on school furniture only. In some schools, this is done with USAID in Khairpur, Sukkur, Larkana and Dadu.

Water and sanitation in schools in Sindh is hopeless. I would not go by those JMP figures. Even where water is supplied, it is not wholesome. Most schools’ toilets are in bad shape. The main reason is the government’s low priority for water and sanitation in schools.

Even, going beyond schools, on city’s level, the water and sanitation scenario is poor. In a megacity like Karachi, 60 per cent population has no sewerage connection (www.dawn.com/news/1302346/60pc-of-karach...s-to-sewerage-system).

Another report speaks of ‘marine pollution costing Pakistan billions of rupees’ (www.dawn.com/news/1308295). Also, please read this report at www.dawn.com/news/1307842.

WaterAid needs to work on how to generate willingness on part of Sindh government for water and sanitation in schools. At the NGOs’ level, advocacy for schools’ water and sanitation can be achieved through TV advertisements (there is one on handwashing, and it is pretty convincing). Another approach is plays and dramas in schools.

I support your contention on pp. 77, which says:

In rural areas they are often located in remote, isolated places, and small communities. Whether in rural or in urban areas, these schools are generally attended by the poorest. They are very much connected with the community, which host them. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that WaterAid Pakistan target(s) these schools as a priority…..

All said and done, your research is valuable and useful. I appreciate your report.

Regards,

F H Mughal

Dear Jaques,

Thanks so much for posting these four reports and making us aware of them! It's a pity that your post didn't attract any replies yet, so I would like to provide a little boost.

I took a look at your report from Pakistan (our dedicated forum user Mughal from Pakistan might also like to comment).

Let me highlight this section from your report for Pakistan:

Chief constraints and possible solutions

Two principal constraints emerge. First, interventions spread out over a longer timeframe
(e.g. five years) in the same schools is beyond what donors can currently afford for
programmes solely focusing on school WASH. Second, WASH objectives are too narrow to
trigger widespread interest and sustain it long enough to achieve lasting outcomes.
Integrated WASH-health-nutrition programmes provide a solution: all these dimensions
contribute to better quality education, and support government education reform.

Importantly, success (impact, sustainability) on each dimension depends on good
governance and leadership. Such integrated programmes can attract more donors and
mobilise more resources, pooling funding to buy more time for building the level of
commitment and governance needed.

Not only can such integrated programmes be of interest to donors, but if properly
embedded in the curriculum and supporting teachers’ efforts, they can trigger strong
teacher buy-in and rally the – often lacking – support of district education officers. In certain
provinces, WASH clubs can be upgraded to child parliaments to serve the school agenda
beyond WASH matters.

Integrated WASH-health-nutrition programmes will require broadening the range of
partnerships, and creating networks, forums and coordination platforms addressing WASH,
health and nutrition. This already forms part of WaterAid Pakistan’s objectives.

Very interesting points! I like your proposed connection with the nutrition sector. Is this somethind WaterAid will pursue?

And how are you now planning to disseminate the findings of this research in four countries further (inside and outside of WaterAid?)?

I'll make sure they also get uploaded to the SuSanA library (susana.org/lang-en/library).

And what do you think of this idea: how about capturing some key points and adding them to the existing Wikipedia article on WASH? It would fit here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASH#WASH_in_schools

The reports could then be cited and perhaps get read by more people.

One day, I'd also like to start a new Wikipedia article specifically for WASH in Schools. Perhaps members from the SuSanA Working Group 7 or people from WaterAid would like to get involved in this?

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear all,

WaterAid just published four interesting reports on WinS in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan.

These documents present the findings of a research project recently carried out by Partnerships in Practice for WaterAid. The project not only provided WaterAid with an opportunity to undertake comprehensive WinS bottleneck analyses in these four countries, but it allowed to dig a bit deeper and explore the underlying causes of strengths and weaknesses. A wide range of political economy factors, often well-known by practitioners but unfortunately rarely factored in programmes, have thus been uncovered and analysed.

These four case study reports deliver interesting insights into WinS dynamics at central, district and local levels. Good practices from various organisations are also extracted and practical recommendations made to contribute to sustainable and inclusive WASH services in schools.

The four reports, attached below, are also available on this webpage .

This work has been supported by a grant by H&M Foundation.

Best regards

Jacques