Improving nutritional impact through the integration of WASH and nutrition interventions: a practical guidebook

Undernutrition is a multi-sectoral problem with multi-sectoral solutions. By applying integrated approaches, the impact, coherence and efficiency of the action can be improved. The international humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger has published a new guidebook for improving nutrition through the integration of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) and nutrition interventions. The “WASH’ Nutrition Practical Guidebook” demonstrates the importance of both supplementing nutrition programmes with WASH activities and adapting WASH interventions to include nutritional considerations i.e. making them more nutrition-sensitive and impactful on nutrition. It has been developed to provide practitioners with usable information and tools so that they can design and implement effective WASH and nutrition programmes. Apart from encouraging the design of new integrated projects, the guidebook provides support for reinforcing existing integrated interventions

A participatory nutrition causal analysis and operational research on WASH and nutrition interaction

Defined by UNICEF as “the outcome of insufficient food intake and repeated infectious diseases“ under-nutrition is one of the world’s most serious problems with direct short and long-term health effects. A growing base of evidence showing the links between water, sanitation and hygiene conditions and health indicate that WASH1 environment can be critical in shaping children’s nutritional outcomes. The evidence regarding the consequences of poor WASH conditions (especially exposure to poor sanitation) on low height for age- stunting is particularly strong, whereas the effects of WASH interventions on low weight for height – wasting, together with the impact of Environmental Enteric Dysfunction2 on under-nutrition are still to be explored. By conducting series of studies and research projects, ACF (1) is playing an active role in narrowing down the existing knowledge and evidence gap on WASH and nutrition interaction. ACF also promotes a Link-NCA3 methodology, used to analyze the complex, dynamic, locally-specific causes of under-nutrition, including WASH related one

the interaction between shocks and institutions solve the OECD shocks and institutions solve the OECD Unemployment Puzzle ? A Theoritical and Empirical Appraisal.

This paper provides a theoretical and empirical appraisal of the shocks-institutions controversy as an explanation of unemployment heterogeneity in OECD countries. Since the influential work of Blanchard and Wolfers (2000), many studies have tried to explain the differences in the OECD unemployment rate as the result of interaction between shocks and labour market institutions. Modelling this interaction is viewed as a promising way for understanding the puzzle of unemployment disparities which can be explained by none of the two kinds of variables individually. Indeed, on the one hand, OECD countries have been affected by symmetric shocks and have nevertheless experienced different unemployment dynamics. On the other hand, before the 1970s, all these countries had low unemployment rates in spite of quite different labour market institutions. Using cross section data, these studies test a direct relationship between the unemployment rate, shocks and institutions and thus have the advantage of readily allowing for international comparisons. However, testing a reduced equation of the unemployment rate constitutes also their main drawback as they do not analyze formally the link between the unemployment rate and the wage determination process. As a consequence, empirical results are quite divergent among studies since they often lay on ad hoc specifications that may have little theoretical foundations.Equilibrium unemployment;Structural model;shock;labour market institutions;OECD;cross-section estimation;

WASH governance in support of humanitarian programs in South Sudan: a case study from Northern Bahr el Ghazal

ACF recognizes the need for more WASH governance in link with its operations in humanitarian crisis, and has conducted a series of studies on the subject. One such study was done in South Sudan in 2015 to analyze the state of WASH governance, and the links and gaps in order to improve ACF programs, as the WASH crisis in South Sudan is not only a resource crisis but also an issue of governance. The sector is fragmented and lacks regulation and policies. The limited availability of spare parts and of control mechanisms hinders the access to water of the population. To capitalize on its governance work, ACF has published a WASH governance manual dedicated to its country offices and its partners. It explains why, when and how to implement WASH governance activities or projects in humanitarian and development contexts

Designing evidence-based and context-specific hygiene programs in emergencies: could there be an app for that?

When a humanitarian crisis occurs the disease risk associated with faecal-oral pathogens substantially increases. Encouraging crisis-affected populations to wash their hands with soap has therefore been a cornerstone of humanitarian response for decades. Recent literature reviews have highlighted that current approaches to hygiene programming are dated and insufficient to realise actual behaviour change. This research explored the factors that determine hygiene behaviour in emergencies and the barriers that prevent humanitarian actors from improving hygiene program design. This was done by conducting qualitative research in Iraq and the Democratic Republic of Congo and interviews with global and national humanitarian agencies. Humanitarian actors felt that hygiene behaviour change was the remit of experts and that current guides are overly generic and hard to adapt and apply. The findings from this research are being used to develop a software-based tool to aid practitioners in designing rapid, evidence-based and context-specific programs in emergencies

Exploring funding for sustainable sanitation in Mongolia: perceptions from stakeholders and communities

One of the major challenges for scaling up sustainable sanitation (SuSan) technologies and services is the sources of finances. Perceptions of stakeholders and communities may trigger them to overcome this challenge by exploring viable financing mechanisms and sources for widespread replication of SuSan technologies and services from the local to the global scale. This approach was studied through household surveys combined with semi-structured key informant interviews among various SuSan users and institutional stakeholders in the peri-urban Ger areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The results showed that the existing technologies and services are highly subsidized and still partly shared by the households. Micro-finance organizations (including banks), government subsidies, private companies and community fundraising through building social capital may be considered as potential sources of finance for SuSan projects in Mongolia. A re-invented idea of ‘Corporate Responsibility’ is an interesting direction in which to explore possible financial sources and an effective mechanism for sustainability in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector

Invasion genetics of the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas in the British Isles inferred from microsatellite and mitochondrial markers

The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, native to northeast Asia, is one of the most important cultured shellfish species. In Europe, Pacific oysters first settled along the Atlantic coasts of France at the end of the 1960s but rapidly spread and are now widely established. Twenty-two sites in the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Denmark, France and Spain were sampled to assess genetic diversity and differentiation. Hatchery-propagated stocks from two hatcheries located in the UK also were included. Two main genetic clusters were identified from pairwise genetic differentiation indexes, Bayesian clustering methods or neighbour-joining analysis, based on 7 microsatellite loci: (1) a Northeast cluster (including feral samples from East England, Ireland and Denmark as well as UK hatchery stocks) and (2) a Southwest cluster (including samples from South Wales, South West England, France and Spain). The Southwest cluster had significantly higher allelic richness (A) and expected heterozygosity (He) (A: 45.68, He: 0.928) than in the Northeast (A: 26.58, He: 0.883); the two diverging by a small but significant FST value (FST=0.017, 95% CI: 0.014-0.021). A 739-bp fragment of the major noncoding region of the mitochondrial genome was sequenced in 248 oysters from 12 of the studied samples in Europe and in 25 oysters from Miyagi prefecture (Japan). A total of 81 haplotypes were found. Haplotype frequency analyses identified the same two clusters observed using microsatellites. This study highlights how the number and size of introduction events, aquaculture practices, genetic bottlenecks followed by genetic drift and natural dispersal can act concurrently to shape the genetic diversity and structure of introduced populations

Traditional closed-loop sanitation systems in peri-urban and rural Afghanistan: a SWOT analysis

The closed-loop-sanitation-system (CLSS), or sustainable sanitation system, has accelerated in recent years and been successfully implemented in many parts of the world. This study explored the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the traditional CLSS (T-CLSS) in both peri-urban and rural contexts within three different provinces in Afghanistan, the first study of its kind in this country. Participatory research tools such as transect walks, focus group discussions, and interactive workshops have been applied to assess the SWOT components of T- CLSS. The results show that T-CLSS is practiced historically in both peri-urban and rural areas by different generations using local and traditional knowledge, skills and technologies. Socio-cultural acceptance of the system is considered as one of the strengths in both rural and peri-urban areas. It is highly recommended that the feasibility of improved CLSS be assessed and implemented in the light of the T-CLSS system

Diagnostic value of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in occult scaphoid and wrist fractures

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the diagnostic value of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) for scaphoid and wrist fractures that are missed on standard radiographs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between September 2014 and October 2015, we prospectively enrolled 49 patients with a clinically suspected scaphoid fracture following an acute injury but had normal radiographs. Each patients underwent radiographs, CBCT and (magnetic resonance imaging) MRI within 7days of the initial injury event. Both exam were evaluated independently by two radiologists. RESULTS: For scaphoid cortical fractures CBCT sensitivity is 100% (95% CI: 75%-100%), specificity 97% (95% CI: 83%-100%). CBCT diagnosed all 24 corticals wrist fractures, corresponding to a sensitivity of 100% (95% CI: 83%-100%), specificity of 95% (95% CI: 75%-100%). Kappa agreement rate between the two radiologists was K=0.95 (95% CI: 0.85-1) for scaphoid fractures and K=0.87 (95% CI: 0.73-1) for wrist fractures. CONCLUSIONS: CBCT is superior to radiographs for diagnosing occult cortical fractures. Because of its low radiation dose, we believe that CBCT can be used in current practice as a replacement or supplement to radiographs to detect these fractures and optimize the cost-effectiveness ratio by limiting the number of needless immobilizations