WASH’ Nutrition

comes to breastfeeding, the quantity of milk produced for each feeding decreases if the mother is severely malnourished. 105
Given the high vulnerability and indivisible connection between the two, integrated WASH and nutrition strategies and
interventions should protect and support the “mother – (malnourished) child” couple and encourage integrated service
delivery for both.
In addition to the close relationship mother and child have, children are also dependent on other adults – influential caretakers
such as fathers, grandmothers, older siblings, etc. - for their general needs and care (hygiene, feeding, health). Being in close
contact, mothers/caretakers and their children are sharing water, food, household environment and other resources. For that
reason, interventions proposed under the second pillar of WASH’Nutrition strategy go beyond the figure of a mother and aim
at targeting “mother/ influential caretakers - (malnourished) child” dyad.
Note that prevention activities focus on the “mother/caretaker-child” dyad while interventions accompanying the treatment
target children who are already malnourished and therefore focus on the “mother/caretaker – malnourished child” dyad.
EXAMPLE FROM THE FIELD 2
“1,000-day strategy” and WASH in Senegal
Since 2012, ACF mission in Matan region, Senegal has been implementing a project which aims at strengthening the prevention
and management of severe acute malnutrition cases through an integrated approach. Within the framework of this project,
special focus has been given to pregnant and lactating woman, children less than 2 years old and implementation of the 1,000-
day strategy. The main hygiene promotion efforts are designed around nutrition activities, which are jointly implemented at the
community level and in health posts. Nutrition interventions, which intend to improve essential family and young child feeding
practices, include WASH awareness-raising components: hand washing at critical moments, proper use of the latrine, safe drinking
water consumption, health and hygiene of a new-born, body and oral hygiene, clean and healthy living environments and use of
mosquito nets.
EXAMPLE FROM THE FIELD 3
“WASH 1,000 strategy” in Ghana
Strengthening Partnerships, Results, and Innovations in Nutrition Globally (SPRING), aims at improving nutrition through “WASH
1,000 strategy”, a multifaceted approach that stresses the importance of key household behaviours during the first 1,000 days
between the mother’s pregnancy to the child’s second birthday. “WASH 1,000 strategy” focuses on four key behaviours:
1 Ensuring the child has a safe and clean play space
2 Safely disposing of human and animal feces
3 Hand washing at critical times
4 Using only boiled or treated water for the child’s consumption.
Main WASH activities are concentrated in the communities affected by high undernutrition rates. Mobilizing affected communities
to build latrines is one of the methods used to improving sanitation. Installing tippy taps or simple hand washing stations near
latrines and in households promotes hand washing after using the latrine and before meals is another WASH 1,000 goal. Learn
more about the project: https://www.spring-nutrition.org/
Chapter 4 provides various examples from the field showing how to integrate WASH and nutrition interventions at different
levels and settings while focusing on the key target group: mother/influential caretakers – (malnourished) child dyad.
105 - UNICEF (2015) “Related maternal nutrition”
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WASH’Nutrition
A practical guidebook