WASH’ Nutrition

2.3. Formulation and financing of integrated projects
The formulation of integrated activities can either take the form of building a joint integrated project, or incorporating specific
objectives, activities and indicators of one sector into the project proposal of another (e.g. including nutrition-sensitive indicators
such as child weight/height, anemia in WASH projects). The decision will depend on the context, the capacities of the NGO/
mission and the outcomes of previously conducted needs analysis. Different elements such as the existence of coordination
mechanisms between two sectors, capacity of actors already working on the issue of WASH and nutrition integration, ongoing
advocacy initiatives, perceptions of national and local authorities in this regard, etc. also play an important role in the
decision-making process. Where resources and funding are constrained, WASH and nutrition implementers can start small
pilot activities and gradually increase the integration. At times, opportunities for scaling-up may arise as programmes expand
and adapt to the context.
Objectives, results, activities and indicators in the logical framework will depend on the type of the project chosen:
WASH interventions are integrated into prevention and treatment of undernutrition
WASH interventions are integrated into prevention of undernutrition only
WASH interventions are integrated into treatment of (acute) undernutrition only
A logical framework for an integrated project can have only one joint specific objective or “shared” purpose, measured by
indicators relating to its specific aspects. For example: “The mothers/caretakers in 950 households in Balkh province improved
their hygiene and infant and young child feeding practices through increased knowledge and better access to WASH infrastructure,
products and services.”
Examples of specific objective indicators:
75% of the targeted population wash their hands with soap and water at critical times
70% of the target population demonstrate adequate and hygienically safe child feeding practices
Under a single shared purpose, integration can also be achieved by creating synergies between the results produced by
different sectors. Once expected results have been determined, the project activities required to achieve those results have to
be defined. Here WASH and nutrition teams can come up with joint activities and think of ways to integrate their resources.
This includes various options such as joint training for field staff, sharing methodologies or transport for the field work, etc.
Even though the timeframes of WASH and nutrition teams may be very different, it is still possible to work in an integrated
way if the timetables for interventions are developed together. Joint planning of activities and resources can help harmonize
implementation, avoid overlaps and identify opportunities for mutual support. Activities and resources scheduling is a useful
tool for this. This is a simple diagram of planned activities (derived from the logical framework) over a given time period,
identifying their start and end dates, with the resources needed to carry out those activities (human resources, materials,
equipment). This makes it easier to see how different activities and resources fit together and to identify potential constraints
such as two activities requiring the same resource at the same time or delays of the whole project that would occur if certain
activities take longer than planned. An example can be found in the Programmatic resources section as well as a simplified
example of a logical framework for the project with a multi-sectoral approach to ensuring nutrition security. 90
The cost calculation for WASH and nutrition integrated projects is always context specific and it will depend on the results
of needs assessment, identified problems, intervention duration, etc. What is feasible in West Africa with $1 is different from
what can be done for the same amount of money in South Asia (e.g. WASH infrastructure is generally cheaper in Asia and
reaches a higher number of people).
90 - Example taken from ACF US project in Pakistan
WASH’Nutrition
A practical guidebook
51