Democratic dispensation in 1994 created a political and social platform that reshaped life in South Africa. There was a surge in common belief that the inequity and wrong of Apartheid should
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and could be rectified. Equity of access to water and sanitation were obvious targets for improvement. In 1994, an estimated 14–15 million South Africans were without access to an improved water supply, while close to 21 million - more than half of the population at that time - did not have access to improved sanitation facilities. These problems were most severe in poorer rural areas. The water and sanitation sector became unified by the vision of universal access for all South Africans. This case study documents the progression of the sector between 1994 and 2016, and analyzes the impact of local systems created in South Africa to respond to the water and sanitation challenge.
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The development of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools guidelines for TimorLeste is a landmark moment in our quest to make every school
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child-friendly – a place where every child can learn, play and grow with pride and dignity. The overarching goal is to improve health, boost education achievement and promote gender equity in our schools.
The guidelines set clear levels of acceptable standards for water supply, provision of sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion in schools and provide a common framework and policy direction for all sub-sector actors. Therefore, all implementing agencies, managers, planners, architects, water and sanitation technicians, teaching staff, school directors, school boards, district WASH committees, local authorities and other relevant bodies should consult these guidelines, when making implementation plans.
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In many humanitarian emergencies, there is a serious lack of access to even the most basic materials needed for managing the blood in addition to a lack of appropriate sanitation facilities (including wat
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er), which are critical for addressing menstrual hygiene. Privacy in emergencies is often scarce, and even if toilets are available they often lack locks, functioning doors, lighting and separation between genders. These barriers are often intensified by cultural beliefs and taboos surrounding menstruation which can restrict the movements and behaviors of girls and women
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The new Global Strategy aims to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for all women, children and adolescents, transform the future and ensure that every newborn, mother
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and child not only survives, but thrives.
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Nationally, Senegal met the MDG target for water supply access. It did this by engaging the public and private sectors to effectively invest
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and report on investments. It focused on larger population centers, less on remote regions of the country. Its achievements set the stage for more equitable and widespread service provision as the country now works to achieve the SDGs, requiring sustainable management of universal access. This case study documents the progression of the sector between 1990 and 2015, and analyzes the impact of local systems created in Senegal to respond to the water and sanitation challenge.
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These guidelines deal specifically with water, sanitation and hygiene, and are designed to be us
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ed in schools in low-cost settings in low- and medium-resource countries to:
• assess prevailing situations and plan for required improvements;
• develop and reach essential safety standards as a first goal; and
• support the development and application of national policies.
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Mainstreaming Gender in Water and Sanitation
This report summarizes the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global work on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) during 2022. It describes how th
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e Organization continued to deliver its essential WASH programming as elaborated in its 2018–2025 strategy.
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This technical guidance outlines current evidence, knowledge and best practice relating to incidences of violence and injuries among refugees and m
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igrants in the WHO European Region. It highlights key principles, summarizes priority actions and challenges, maps existing international commitments and frameworks and provides practical policy considerations for preventing and responding to such challenges. Specific areas for intervention include ensuring safe passage for migration; addressing causes of violence and injuries in transit and destination countries, including changing norms and values; identifying victims and providing care and protection; investigating and prosecuting perpetrators; and strengthening the knowledge base. While the main intended audience of this technical guidance series are policy-makers across sectors at local, national and regional levels, the contents of this publication will also be of value for health-care practitioners and law enforcement and border protection officials.
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Guidance has been updated on a number of chemicals: asbestos, bentazone, chromium, iodine, manganese, microcystins, nickel, silver, tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene. Guidance has also been added for chemicals not previously assessed in the Guid
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elines: anatoxin-a and analogues, cylindrospermopsins and saxitoxins. The new guidance on organotins has replaced the prior guidance focused on dialkyltins. With these updates, the guideline values for tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene have been revised while new guideline values for cylindrospermopsins, manganese, microcystins, and saxitoxins have been established .
Updated information on cyanobacteria has been included, introducing an alert level framework for early-warning and to guide short-term management responses. Guidance has also been updated in the sections on adequacy of water supply, climate change, emergencies, food production and processing, and radiological aspects, particularly on managing radionuclides when exceeding WHO screening values and guidance levels.
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Ethiopia met the MDG target for drinking water access with a unique and high degree of success. The magnitude of the country’s success in providing improved drinking
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water to nearly half of its population in 25 years despite its diversity, size, and challenges cannot be overstated. This case study documents the progress of the Ethiopian WASH sector from 1990 to 2015, and analyzes the impact of local systems created in Ethiopia to respond to water and sanitation challenges.
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Water security, or having the right amount and quality of water in the right place at the right time, fosters social
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and economic progress. Where water is sufficient to meet demand, it can promote economy wide growth and enable countries to reach their food security, energy security, and human development goals. Where it is scarce, excessive, or unclean it can exacerbate multiple dimensions of poverty. Neither of these two worlds is protected from future water crises, which are heavily influenced by changing local circumstances
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The key actions, activities, and approaches in this document are organized within each of the 5Cs (see Table 1 in the PDF) and those of the Strategic preparedness
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and response plan (SPRP) pillars as follows:
National action plan key activities, prioritized for the current context and the current understanding of the threat of SARS-CoV-2
A. Transition from emergency response to longer term COVID-19 disease management.
B. Integrate activities into routine systems.
C. Strengthen global health security.
Special considerations for fragile, conflict-affected and vulnerable (including humanitarian) settings
WHO global and regional support to Member States to implement their national action plans
Key guidance documents for reference
This is a living document that will be updated to incorporate new technical guidance in response to the evolving epidemiological situation. National plans should be implemented in accordance with the principles of inclusiveness, respect for human rights, and equity.
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This National Food and Nutrition Policy developed in 2013 builds on several achievements that have improved the status of nutrition and household food security in Rwanda during the past six years. T
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he outlines ambitious but necessary strategies needed to solve serious and
persistent problems including the high prevalence of child stunting and high levels of anaemia in children and women. The NFNP also takes into account major differences in the economic development environment and the higher national and international priority placed on improving nutrition and related household food security problems in the second decade of the new millennium compared to 2007 when the country’s first National Nutrition Policy was adopted.
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Adapting community-led approaches . Three out of 10 people in urban areas do not use improved sanitation facilities, and one out of 10 people are forced to practise open defecation. Still higher pro
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portions do not have access to safely managed sanitation facilities, where the fecal sludge
is contained and either left in situ or safely emptied, transported, and delivered to a treatment plant.
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Climate change is damaging human health now and is projected to have a greater impact in the future. Low- and middle-income countries are seeing the worst effects as they are most vulnerable to clim
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ate shifts and least able to adapt given weak health systems and poor infrastructure. Low-carbon approach can provide effective, cheaper care while at the same time being climate smart. Low-carbon healthcare can advance institutional strategies toward low-carbon development and health-strengthening imperatives and inspire other development institutions and investors working in this space. Low-carbon healthcare provides an approach for designing, building, operating, and investing in health systems and facilities that generate minimal amounts of greenhouse gases. It puts health systems on a climate-smart development path, aligning health development and delivery with global climate goals. This approach saves money by reducing energy and resource costs. It can improve the quality of care in a diversity of settings. By prompting ministries of health to tackle climate change mitigation and foster low-carbon healthcare, the development community can help governments strengthen local capacity and support better community health.
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The purpose of this paper is to clarify relevant terminologies and approaches relating to psychosocial well-being and social and emotional learning
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(SEL) in education in crisis affected contexts, and to explore how psychosocial support (PSS) and social and emotional learning relate to one another.
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This new publication presents the continuing and emerging challenges to children’s environmental health.