The recent and increasing body of evidence indicates a strong relationship between poor WASH and stunting, and stresses the need for joint Nutrition and WASH interventions for improving nutrition outcomes. Responding to growing demand for practical guidance on joint Nutrition – WASH programming and actions, this EAPRO led WASH-Nutrition Toolkit is the first of such resources for use by national and local government authorities, UNICEF staff, NGOs and other stakeholders. The toolkit summarizes the latest evidence base on the rationale and importance of joint programming as well as practical steps on how to strengthen joint WASH and Nutrition programming and actions, including a process for developing a joint Theory of Change.
Recognizing the need for practical guides for moving forward from evidence to strengthened joint programming, the EAPRO Nutrition and WASH sections undertook this joint initiative from to develop a Nutrition-WASH Toolkit. The Toolkit aims to provide a high quality and practical guide with key messages and facts to further advance joint Nutrition and WASH programming, implementation, monitoring and advocacy efforts. The toolkit is based on an extensive review of available literature. It builds on feedback from consultations with numerous partners including workshops in Cambodia and Philippines to develop a joint theory of change, mapping out with stakeholders the nutrition and WASH pathways towards reducing stunting and articulating how both sets of stakeholders will work together.
This toolkit is intended to provide UNICEF country offices, and the national governments they support and their partners, with the necessary guidance and tools for combining WASH inventions with nutrition programmes to maximize nutrition outcomes in the EAP region. The overall better economic situation in the EAP region, compared with South Asia and Africa regions, make mobilization of national resources to improve nutrition of critical importance. Therefore this toolkit is oriented towards the enabling environment activities that can support collective malnutrition reduction efforts.
Purpose
This document provides a brief grounding in the interaction between WASH and nutrition and the evidence base on the importance of the convergence and integration of WASH and nutrition programming for improved nutrition outcomes. The toolkit presents practical guidance to assist with the progression towards more systematically integrating WASH and nutrition programming from a holistic point of view. Programming is much more than project implementation and as such the guidance focuses both on upstream and downstream actions for improved systems. The document is intended to be a living document with regular updates and resources being added as they are created.
Audience
- The primary audience of this toolkit is UNICEF country office staff in the EAP region, primarily WASH and nutrition specialists but also senior managers who have leverage and influence such as the Chief of Young Child Survival and Development, and Deputy Resident Representatives.
- The secondary, but equally important audience, is national and local governments and partners who are seeking to maximize health gains through greater planning and integration of nutrition and WASH efforts.
You can download this toolkit for free here.
