Introduction
“The right to water and sanitation is a part of the universal human rights for survival and
dignity, and state and non-state actors have the responsibility to fulfill this right.” 1 Diseases that
are momentously preventable can cause death in crisis if there is not the proper aid of water,
sanitation, and hygiene. Through the Sphere Handbook there are resources to ensure that
preventable diseases are not the cause of deaths within crisis. With proper planning and execution
of proper aid there is likely less of a chance of individuals falling victim of preventable diseases
within a crisis itself. Humanitarian aid should remain impartial meaning “humanitarian
assistance should not be delivered according to need, where government are not able or not
willing to fill the gap”2
Chapter One: Hygiene Promotion
Those who reside in a Western country typically do not have to deal with the effects of
lack of hygiene promotion. “Hygiene promotion should build on people’s knowledge of risk and
disease prevention to promote positive health, seeking behaviors.”3 When communicating hygiene
promotion within these cultures it is essential to involve the community. The idea to teach
messages and distribution of these hygiene items is unlikely to be effective due to the cultural
differences along with differential norms and experiences. With this there needs to be another
grasp on how the community distributes these messages and products. One of the best ways to get
the community involved would consist of identifying a mass media production that can impact
the entire community wither this be audio, written or graphic. “Hygiene promotion can be done
1Sphere Project,Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in
Disaster Response, 2018, 2018,
https://www.refworld.org/reference/manuals/sphere/2011/en/92158 [accessed 07 July
2024]
2 Ibid, 30
3 Ibid, 96
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through several means ranging from face-to-face discussions, media campaigns, and poster
displays, to the creation of community health and hygiene groups that share information and
stories on hygiene promotion.”4 However, ensuring that with this communication outreach the
community is also offered a way for those of the community to give feedback to the humanitarian
action. Along with this educate and train individuals, community groups and outreach groups to
better inform the community of important information. If individuals see those of their
community involved in this humanitarian action than in turn it maintains the motivation of the
community and further affirming the dignity of all impacted. Involving the community in this
humanitarian action allows the creation of influence in different groups of society along with help
the efforts mobilize and create preventive action. For the Uduku people the primary demographic
are women, for this the efforts to education would be on the older women within this group. Not
necessarily the elders due to their demographic needing another outreach which will be discussed
later. Individuals of the community impacted would be able to communicate more effectively
with the affected to better understand the local needs and concerns of these groups. When
examining the demographics of the Uduku people, the highest on the ‘essential list’ for hygiene
promotion would be soap for bath and laundry, washing stations, water storage (size depending
on age and ability along with amount, of individuals represented in that household) menstruation
resources. The ‘nice to have’ list would consist of hairbrushes, toothbrush and toothpaste,
shampoo, new footwear and clothes. With the Uduku people having a population of 1600 people
consisting of women, children and the elderly along with 400 of those women, being
menstruation; it is vital the proper resources are granted to these at-risk groups. For the woman
4 International Medical Corps.International Medical Corps IMC. United States, 2010. Web Archive.
https://www.loc.gov/item/lcwaN0018374/.
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and girls there is standard for these individuals to receive 15 pads per month or 6 reusable pads
per year (all depends on the preference of the impacted group). With that the accurate amount of
menstruation supplies the humanitarian action should have for phase one will be over 6000
menstruation hygienic products. Also, with women being within menstruation this also requires
the humanitarian action according to sphere to also have 250 grams extra of their monthly soap
for washing and laundry. Other supplies granted to those within the menstruation period also
consists of extra resources for underwear and extra cleaning supplies. Another group to take into
consideration when regarding hygiene promotion is the ‘at-risk’ group of the population. These
are individuals effected by incontinence or rather those who have more needs that the others in
the community due to age, health status, mobility and disability. Those with disabilities and who
face the above categories need more resources to ensure there is the same level of hygiene
promotion as the others within the community. For those identifiable within the ‘at-risk group’
the extra supplies mandatory to receive are as follows: 150 disposable incontinence pads or 1
reusable incontinence pads a month (depending on preference), 12 pair of underwear a year, 500g
extra soap for washing along with 500g extra soap for laundry, two washable leak-proof mattress
protectors, additional water continuers for the household, 3 liters of cleaning supplies a year and
finally a bed ban/urinal bottles (depending on gender) and or toilet chair. As seen, there are
differences within the appropriate hygiene materials given to an individual based on
classification. Having the community involved within this process allows there to be better
representation of what the community is lacking and needing to ensure the prevention of one
losing their dignity due to inadequate resources of or lack of hygiene promotion. Safe places like
schools should have community members become professional in the humanitarian response to
learn and adopt menstruation hygiene education to help encourage and maintain the motivation of
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hygiene promotion. If WASH is executed correctly there is no plausibility individuals of a high
rate will die from preventable diseases such as inadequate hygiene promotion.
Chapter Two: Water Supply
Inadequate water supply leads to one of the highest public health problems in crisis
situations to date. This is a modern-day problem that occurs within third world countries but also
developing and developed countries. When there is not enough adequate water for basic needs
than it is the responsibility of state or non-state actors to fulfill the gap of adequacy. Low quality
and quantity of water leads to sever health problems within those affected by a crisis. “The
priority is to provide adequate quantity of water, even if its intermediate quality.”5 Through
community involvement of setting up an operatable water supply, individuals have the
opportunity to work with the community to find safe and accessible water supplies. If the
humanitarian action is offering within their region, it is likely those within the community know
where these areas are. “Establishing operation and maintenance systems that assign clear
responsibility and include future needs for sustainable access.”6 Meaning if there is involvement
and education within the community on the water supply, after the humanitarian aid leaves the
community those members that were included in the mission will be able to maintenance the
community’s water supply through the future. According to the Sphere Handbook the standard
for amount of water an individual is to receive a day is a minimum of 15 liters.7 With the Uduku
population being 1600 refugees the total minimum amount of water for drinking necessary of
5Sphere Project,Sphere Handbook: Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in
Disaster Response, 2018, 2018,
https://www.refworld.org/reference/manuals/sphere/2011/en/92158 [accessed 07 July
2024] 105
6 Ibid 105
7 Ibid 106
5
24,000 liters. However, each household has 2 water containers that contain 10-20 liters of water.
Along with this the at-risk group of individuals have an extra water container of 10-20 liters.
These water containers are used for various household activities like bathing, cooking, cleaning
and other water necessary actions. With that being said another 8,000 to 24,000 liters of water
has to be available for the population of Uduku. The Uduku people need anywhere from 32,000
to 48,000 liters of water a day to ensure the upholding of their human rights of access to adequate
and plentiful of water. With the stream within their camp being able to produce 24 liters per
minute there is a factor of resource the stream can offer for the Uduku people. If we are to assume
the stream would be used to collect water for only 8 hours out of the day, then the stream could
supply 12,000 liters a day. There is a significant deficit that is created with the stream only having
water collected 8 hours out of the day. If the stream was open for individuals to collect water at
any part of the day, then the stream could offer over 33,000 liters a day. This however does not
resolve the Uduku people’s issue of not enough water for their entire community. For this a
solution that could appeal to the Uduku people would be establishing a laundry center along with
a bathing facility for individuals not within the at-risk population. This would decrease the
minimum about of water that is needed to give to this population due to water not being used for
cleaning laundry or bathing. This would help decrease the deficient water crisis. Another way to
solve this issue is to create different pumps along the stream through the community to have
different access sites for individuals to collect this water at various times of the day. Also there
could be a demand for bottled water to fulfill the individuals standard need for drinking water,
and the spring be used solely for the water container for the households. “Unfortunately, the
availability of water from public water systems is often compromised in the aftermath of such an
event. During these times, bottled water is the best option to deliver clean, safe drinking water
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quickly into affected areas.”8The location of the camp must be within 500 meters of the water
cite, so with the purpose of fulfilling the needs of the Uduku people, the camp is to be located
above the spring to collect the most pristine water. When it comes to quality and quantity both of
which are important by the Sphere handbook, quantity however the access to water and delivery
of water necessary to the individual regarding their classification is of most importance to Sphere
regardless of quality in extreme crisis.
Chapter Three: Excrement Management
8 IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice: The International Bottled Water Association. United States 1995
https://bottledwater.org/emergency-response/
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