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Global WASH Cluster
GWC Monthly Newsletter #3
05 / 04 / 2022
Dear colleagues,
 
Welcome to the third edition of the GWC 2022 Monthly Newsletter! We are pleased to share in this issue news from the Global WASH Cluster's Technical Working Groups, the HP compendium launch, key operational coordination updates, and fresh news from partner organizations including Solidarités, ACF, REACH, UNICEF, iMMAP, USAID, and others.

In addition, key documents from national humanitarian WASH coordination platforms are also featured in the operational update section. Highlights from countries this month showcase the Advocacy Note from Burkina Faso on World Water Day 2022 (French) and the  Sudan WASH Sector Annual Summary 2021 Dashboard.
 
We remind all that we value showcasing the incredible work national humanitarian WASH coordination platforms and partners are doing around the world, so please send us your photos, stories, and other content to highlight the work of your team or draw attention to issues that matter to you. Read our submission guidelines here. All items can be sent directly for inclusion in the next newsletter by Friday, 22nd April 2022 to globalwashcluster@gmail.com

Thank you for your attention and we hope you will find this insightful!

Best regards,
CAST (The Cluster Advocacy and Support Team)
 
Photo credits: © UNICEF/UN0607111/
GWC Collaborations and News
GWC Annual Report 2021...and Country Profiles.

We are pleased to share with you the Global WASH Cluster (GWC)'s 2021 Annual Report.

This document summarizes the progress made by the GWC for 2021 and includes key results achieved and challenges faced in implementing the previous GWC’s Strategic Plan. It also highlights key recommendations and outlines major ongoing initiatives and collaborations. In addition, the report reflects upon how the new working environment, due to Covid-19 has impacted the GWC and our work this year. Download here

We are also pleased to share with you the country profiles for 2021, including country priorities for 2022.

GWC Technical Working Groups (TWIGs) Update

Hygiene promotion TWIG Speaker Series
Many thanks to those who were able to join us for our first Hygiene Promotion Technical Working Group Speaker Series event on the topic of Incontinence in humanitarian settings. For those that missed the session, you can find a recording of the event here – please do share the link widely with your colleagues. 

Our next Speaker Series session will be on the topic of Mental Health and Hygiene in Emergencies and will be held on 7th April, 13:00 CEST. To register for the session, please sign up using the link below and please do disseminate the ZOOM link to join to anyone you feel would be interested to attend. 
 

Hygiene promotion TWIG Survey

The Global WASH Cluster’s Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies Technical Working Group (GWC HPiE-TWG) is planning its work for the upcoming year (2022-2023) and would like to explore ways to best support the hygiene promotion work conducted by member organizations of the national WASH coordination platforms. This survey will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Please take the short survey here.

___

Faecal Sludge Management TWIG Webinar - Sanitation Quality Standards for Emergencies

Join the Global WASH Cluster's Faecal Sludge Management Technical Working Group for a webinar on the recently issued Sanitation Quality Standards for Emergencies. These standards help the WASH sector meet the growing challenges of providing effective feacal sludge management in emergency contexts. The webinar will cover the intended audience the standards were designed for, when and where they can be applied, and how implementers can access and help with testing.

The webinar will be online, Wednesday the 6th of April, 15:00 -16:00 CET / 9:00 - 10:00 ET. Joining the webinar is free and hosted by PRO-WASH. Please register here. We are especially inviting active sanitation TWiGs and local WASH clusters to join the conversation, though all WASH practitioners interested in sanitation are welcome. The standards can be found here.

This event will be held in English with simultaneous French, Spanish, and Arabic interpretation.

 
World Water Forum Event - Coordination Event Recording

To contribute to the World Water Forum this year, the Global WASH Cluster (GWC) supported an event on the importance of humanitarian WASH coordination and the support provided by the Field Support Team (FST). To shed light on coordination as the cornerstone of humanitarian response, the session panelists reflected on various key questions around the FST surge support mechanism and its contribution to humanitarian WASH coordination.
 

The event "Supporting wash coordination in emergency contexts: the global wash cluster field support teamtook place on March 23rd, 2022 - watch the full session here.
 
Compendium of Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies I Officially Launched

The Compendium of Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies is the third volume of the ‘Emergency WASH Compendium’ series, complementing the already existing compendia on sanitation and water supply technologies in emergencies and addressing the third pillar of the WASH triad – Hygiene Promotion. 

It provides a comprehensive and systematic compilation of the most relevant and sector-reviewed components, tools, methods and approaches to design and implement successful Hygiene Promotion interventions. It draws on the latest initiatives, materials and evidence, disaggregating Hygiene Promotion into its functional components, clarifying terminology and providing guidance on the most appropriate solutions in a given context. The Compendium is a capacity strengthening tool and a reference book and supports planning, implementation and decision making for specific Hygiene Promotion interventions.

The development of the Compendium has been a collaborative effort of Global WASH Cluster partners, coordinated by the German WASH Network, financially supported by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and with contributions and support from a multitude of international WASH experts, organisations and institutions.

The full PDF document of the "Compendium of Hygiene Promotion in Emergencies" can be directly accessed following the link here. A corresponding hardcopy version will be available in early April 2022.

Access the Emergency WASH Portal here.

Operational Updates
The Global WASH Cluster provides Operational Support for coordination platforms in humanitarian emergencies through deployments and remote support. The support is provided by the Field Support Team (FST), a consortium of WASH agencies providing 6 staff (3 x coordinators, 2 x information managers, and 1 x assessment specialist) with the support and oversight of the GWC-Cluster Advocacy and Support Team (CAST). To access these services national coordinators or information managers can send an email or inquiry to gwchelp@unicef.org (GWC Help Desk). 
Field Support Team (FST) Deployments - WASH Cluster Coordination Support to Ukraine - In-person Support

The scale of the crisis has forced over 10.5 million people to flee their homes, nearly a quarter of the total population of Ukraine. At least 4 million are seeking refuge in other countries, and 6.5 million have been displaced within the country. Heavy shelling and artillery have led to severe damage to buildings and infrastructure such as water, sanitation, roads, and electricity. The initial estimated number of people in need of WASH assistance was 12 million people with a target of 6 million for the Ukraine Flash Appeal from March to May 2022. Given these multiple challenges, as well as to cover a non-predictable coordination gap, the FST was requested to support the Ukraine National WASH Humanitarian Coordination Platform.

Cristina Mena-Lander, FST WASH Cluster Coordinator consultant with ACF, has been providing in-person support to the cluster from the 7th of January until the 3rd of April 2022. Note that Karl Lellouche, FST WASH Cluster Coordinator with Norwegian Church Aid will take on in-country WASH Cluster Coordination as of early April 2022 until a national coordinator is in place.

During this period, the support included establishing an Emergency Strategic Advisory Group, elaborating a WASH cluster response plan as well as the Monitoring & Evaluation 5 Core WASH indicators. The support also involved developing the 3W matrix to monitor the capacity of the 19 in-country operational partners on weekly basis, and activating the hygiene technical working group.

Read more on the Ukraine WASH Cluster Website.
Field Support Team (FST) Deployments - WASH Cluster Assessment Support to Ethiopia - Remote Support
 
Over the past year, Ethiopia has experienced a resurge of conflict in the north compounded by impending drought in the south and southeastern parts of the country, which has led to large-scale displacement, loss of livelihoods, and lack of access to adequate WASH services. Given these multiple challenges and lack of up-to-date information on the WASH situation, FST support was requested to support conducting a WASH situation analysis across the country and support the cluster in developing an assessment framework to strengthen data availability and management for the coming year.

Rebecka Rydberg, FST Assessment Specialist with IMPACT, provided remote support to the cluster from late December 2021 to March 2022. During this period, her support included a comprehensive WASH Severity Classification based on secondary data analysis including information on WASH needs, public health outcomes, and compounding factors. She also initiated a WASH-specific assessment working group and developed an assessment strategy with input from partners. In addition to this strategy, the cluster now has a set of tools and methodologies to conduct WASH-specific assessments and a system to better coordinate and harmonize assessments across the response.

Read more on the Ethiopian WASH Sector Website  here
GWC Operational Support 

GWC Recent Webinars 

We are sharing with you the links of the recorded presentations from previous webinars held by the GWC CAST and FST to National Humanitarian WASH Coordination Platforms.

2022 Assessment Strategy 2022 – recording and PPT here 
Response Monitoring Frameworks and 4Ws - materials and recording here
IM Diagnostic and Framework 2022 - materials here
Coordination Performance and Prioritization 2022 - materials here
   
2021 Communications and Visualisation for National Humanitarian WASH Coordination Platforms here
Information Management Refresher - Session recording -  PPT Presentation
Localization of WASH Coordination - ENG/FR/SP - here
Cluster Coordination Performance Monitoring - webinar and PPTs :  EN - FR
Integrating Cross-Cutting Themes to Humanitarian WASH Response Plans:   Link
HNO 2021-2022 WASH Sectoral Guidance: Link to webinar in English and  French
Partners Briefing Package Training and Tool Orientation: Link to English and French
HNO/HRP Targeting and Prioritization of WASH Responses: Link to English and French 
Project and/or Activity Costing of HRPs: webinar, PPTs and exercises EN  -  FR

GWC Coordination Toolkit
We also remind all that the GWC Coordination Toolkit is our live resource for guidance in all matters for coordination, information management and assessments. 

Resources and Tools from National Humanitarian WASH Coordination Platforms - March 2022:
We encourage all National Humanitarian WASH Coordination Platforms to send their examples, guidance, tools on coordination, information management, assessment and technical guidelines/documents directly to: globalwashcluster@gmail.com
Partner Updates
UNICEF WASH - Key Updates and New Resources

Recommended good practices for the minimum structure of coordination teams at country level for UNICEF as a Cluster Lead Agency
The main purpose of this document is to support UNICEF as a Cluster Lead Agency in meeting cluster accountabilities. As adequate staffing of a cluster/Area of Responsibility (AoR)/sector is one of UNICEF’s core accountabilities, this document provides recommended practices for minimum structure of the cluster/AoR/ sector coordination teams at national and sub-national levels to ensure that their functions are effectively fulfilled and maintained, and, ultimately, to ensure a more timely and relevant humanitarian response.
 
Human Resources Decision Tree ENG.pdf - [FR] -  [ES]


UNICEF finalizes its second Cluster Lead Agency role evaluation

The second Cluster Lead Agency Role Evaluation (CLARE II) concludes that UNICEF has generally delivered on the coordination responsibilities of its cluster lead agency (CLA) role and shows significant progress since the first global evaluation in 2013, especially in fulfilling its country-level cluster coordination responsibilities and in terms of staffing coordination and information management positions. However, it noted that there are still noticeable gaps in coordination positions at the country level (even up to 6 months) with frequent instances of “double-hatted” staff. Finally, the evaluation found that the humanitarian system relies on heavy processes that hinder strategic thinking, and on outdated guidance that needs to incorporate new realities and ways of doing business. 


Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in Africa, 2000-2020: 5 Years into the SDGs
Commemorating the World Water Day 2022 and the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal, UNICEF launched this special report on "Progress on Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Africa 2000 - 2020: 5 Years into the SDGs", calling for urgent action to be taken on a continent where water scarcity and weak sanitation and hygiene services can threaten peace and development.



Download here
ACF - New WASH Strategy for 2021-2025
 
Action Contre la Faim has developed a new 5-year WASH strategy, designed to cover all phases of the humanitarian-development nexus to strengthen WASH systems while ensuring the continuity, coverage and affordability of essential WASH goods and services. 

The strategy has two main objectives: reducing WASH-related morbidity and mortality among people affected by criss, and achieving the “basic” level of WASH services for all and progressively and sustainably move towards safely managed WASH facilities at the level of households, communities and institutions. Core approaches address localization, gender transformation, environmental mainstreaming and system strengthening. 

This guiding document is intended for Action Contre la Faim staff and local partners, other WASH actors, national or local authorities, national clusters or platforms and donors, and can be found in English here and in French here.
 
Solidarités - Baromètre Eau 2022 (French)

"Water security for peace and development is on the agenda of the 9th World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal. It's good but it is not enough to display it for it to flow naturally like a long quiet river! Large populations face water insecurity every day and know neither peace nor development. Victims of wars, disasters, epidemics and faced with the scarcity of public services, these populations can only count on community solidarity and on humanitarian aid". Read more in the latest Solidarités Report - Baromètre Eau 2022 in French.

Download here.

MPI Report - Drinking Water and Sanitation Equity Gaps
A country’s equity gap represents the difference between the groups with the least and highest access to drinking water or sanitation. A country with a large overall drinking water/sanitation equity gap (high percentage) means there is a large difference between ethnic groups accessing water and sanitation services. A country with a low overall drinking water or sanitation equity gap (low percentage) means there is not much difference between ethnic groups accessing water or sanitation services. Read this article for more information.
 
Check out the visualization map here.

Supporting Humanitarian Response In and Outside Ukraine with the Right Data and Information

As the conflict in Ukraine continues, the gravity of the humanitarian situation is clear. People in areas directly affected by conflict are in immediate need of life-saving support, lacking food, energy, and utilities, and facing a breakdown in the provision of basic services. They also face the risk of environmental disasters because of proximity to hazardous infrastructure (such as energy-producing facilities and transit infrastructure), a risk that extends well beyond conflict-affected areas.
Read more here.

Sanitation Hub: Monitoring and Evaluation of Rural Sanitation and Hygiene

Looking for progressive, comprehensive, people-focused approaches to monitoring and evaluating rural sanitation and hygiene?

This webinar will introduce the recently published guidelines and framework for monitoring and evaluation of rural sanitation and hygiene, and explain some of the main features of the documents.

Andy Robinson, author of the guidelines and framework, will discuss the aims of the work, and how the documents are intended to be used.

Date: 6th April 2022 10:00 AM GMT - Read more here.

iMMAP: Annual Report 2021

iMMAP facilitated timely and accurate support to our partners and their response activities in some of the direst humanitarian crises in 2021. Through iMMAP’s global surge roster, composed of information management, GIS, analysis, capacity strengthening and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) experts, we helped raise the capacity of our partner organizations by seconding skilled and experienced personnel that provided targeted services in support of emergency operations through various surge mechanisms, including the Standby Partnership. See below how iMMAP’s personnel was distributed across different world regions, partner organizations, and thematic areas.

Read more here

Emergency preparedness planning for water supply and sanitation in health care facilities – organisational and technical solution strategies to increase resilience (NOWATER)

The NOWATER project focuses on emergency preparedness planning for water supply and sanitation in health care facilities. Financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the project seeks to find organisational and technical solution strategies to increase health care facilities’ resilience.
 
The project has produced a first scientific publication to assess real-world cases of water supply failures in healthcare facilities from the literature - a serious threat that is largely overlooked in research and policy. The findings underscore that fixing technical problems alone is not enough to increase the overall resilience of healthcare facilities, but that targeted organizational strategies are needed to avoid cascading impacts: https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/6/12/177
 
The project component led by the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) aims to leverage the experience and best practices of international actors in the field of WASH. If you are interested to learn more about the project or if you are available for an interview to share your insights, please reach out to Sophie van der Heijden (heijden@ehs.unu.edu) or Nathalie Sänger (saenger@ehs.unu.edu

Read more here.

Inter-Cluster Updates
IASC New Resources
 
IASC Cash Coordination Model
This document provides an overview of a model for cash coordination which was the outcome of the Grand Bargain cash coordination caucus and was proposed to the ERC/IASC for adoption. The IASC Principals endorsed the model in March 2022. IASC Endorsed Cash Coordination Model

IASC Briefing on Good Practices in Operationalizing Collective Approaches to Accountability to Affected Populations
An accountable humanitarian system, where more decision-making power is in the hands of those affected by crises, is central to principled humanitarian action. Accountability to Affected People (AAP) ensures this action protects and restores human dignity and agency, remains relevant and effective, and leaves no one behind. See the full video here.
 
Upcoming Events
 
Webinar/Event                 Date & time    Organisation
World Health Day 07-Apr WHO
Singapore International Water Week 2022 17-21 April 2022 PUB
Earth Day 22 April Earth
Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Week 2 - 20 May UNOCHA
World Hand Hygiene Day 05-May WHO
5th international conference on the use of space technology for water resource management 10-13 May 2022 UN / Ghana / PSIPW
26th GWC Annual Meeting 💧 16-17 May GWC
Emergency Environmental Health Forum (EEHF) 18-19 May 2022 LSHTM
2022 Sector Ministers’ Meeting 18-19 May 2022 SWA, Government Indonesia, UNICEF
6th Congress IWA-Mexico 2022: Young Water Professionals 23-27 May International Water Association
Community water management and basic sanitation: The before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic 25-31 May IUAES 2022
Menstrual Hygiene Day 🩸 28 May World
 
If you wish to contribute, please submit directly to: globalwashcluster@gmail.com.
March 2022 - Woman and children gathering water in Tougbo, in the north of Côte d’Ivoire.
© UNICEF/UN0613321/Dejongh
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