WASH’ Nutrition

Latrine construction to avoid the risk of fecal contamination;
ensuring adequate distance from food preparation sites,
drinking water sources, storage of utensils, etc.; latrines
should be properly constructed (e.g. concrete slab) to prevent
helminthes infections;
Analysis of the significance of water sources for livelihoods
and the household economy prior to interventions, in order
to establish drinking water supply services and avoid tensions
between the potentially competing priorities of different
groups;
Harnessing humanitarian WASH operations as an
opportunity for conditional cash or food transfers, through
the engagement of beneficiaries in the construction of their
196 197
own WASH services.
Where possible, these actions should be designed and implemented
in coordination with all relevant stakeholders including community
leaders and/or representatives and in accord with local/national
authorities. Equal participation of men, women and children in
planning, decision-making and local management of emergency
WASH operations helps to ensure that the entire population obtains
safe and easy access to WASH services and that access to these
services does not negatively impact on the nutritional status of
vulnerable groups, particularly women and children. There are
important gender dimensions related to WASH that would need to be fully considered so as to prevent consequences that
could be detrimental to women’s and children’s well-being. Such gender and nutrition-sensitive design supports, for instance,
a reduced burden and a shorter water collection time for women, as well as improved protection for women and young girls
through an appropriate design of WASH facilities in refugee or displacement camps. 198
© A. Parsons/i-Images for Action Against Hunger
BOX 16: Overcoming the humanitarian-development divide when addressing
undernutrition
Most emergencies occur in contexts already characterized by stunting and/or persistently high rates of wasting, as a result
of serious structural factors lying beyond the scope of humanitarian assistance. On the other hand, most of undernutrition
exists and persists outside of emergency contexts.
Initially, linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development (LRRD) was understood to be a linear sequence: emergency aid
should be followed by reconstruction, and later longer-term development cooperation. In the 1990s and 2000s, however,
it became clear that this division into clearly distinguishable, consecutive phases is often artificial. Therefore, the focus
is placed on the simultaneous, complementary use of the various instruments with the aim not only of closing a gap
between different phases, but also of better coordinating humanitarian aid and development cooperation approaches and
interlinking them in a proactive way (Wagner L.J, 2016).
The basic idea of transitional aid is firstly to avoid discontinuities by creating a more systematic link between short- and
long-term measures, and also to establish the conditions for successful long-term development cooperation. For example,
short-term humanitarian aid measures to provisionally repair destroyed water supply systems could be accompanied and
eventually replaced by the parallel reconstruction of an organized drinking water supply and wastewater disposal system.
Likewise, the artificial divide between humanitarian and development agendas for nutrition must be overcome (ECHO, 2013).
Undernutrition requires a joined-up intervention from both humanitarian and development actors to ensure treatment
and prevention of newly emerging undernutrition. Through coordinated actions such as joint vulnerability analysis and
operational planning, humanitarian and development organizations will be able to fight undernutrition in a more sustainable
manner and build up the resilience of the most vulnerable populations.
196 - ECHO (2013) “Addressing undernutrition in emergencies”
197 - ACF (2005) “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for populations at risk”
198 - ECHO (2013) “Addressing undernutrition in emergencies”
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WASH’Nutrition
A practical guidebook