Community Management of Environmental Health, also
known as GESCOME II (Gestion Communautaire de la Sant�
Environnementale),
is a multiyear activity implemented by EHP in Benin. GESCOME II is a
scale-up of an earlier project GESCOME I�a pilot community-based
activity to prevent diarrhea disease in children under 5. GESCOME I
was operational from 1997 to 1999. GESCOME II began operations
in September 1999 and will be completed at the end of September 2001.
GESCOME II continued the focus on diarrhea disease
prevention initiated by GESCOME I, while expanding to
include gender awareness, community and social mobilization,
participatory information, education and communication, and
reinforcing ties between municipal authorities and the community
related to diarrheal disease transmission and prevention.
An activity to document lessons learned from the
design, implementation and accomplishments of GESCOME II and GESCOME I is
scheduled to begin in late October. The document, titled: �Governance, Community Mobilization, and Environmental Health
Outcomes�Lessons Learned in Benin,� will be prepared by a combination
of international and Beninese experts. The documentation activity is
tentatively scheduled to be completed by early December.
For information on the lessons-learned
documentation activity, please contact Eckhard Kleinau ([email protected])
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A number of USAID missions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)
have been supporting municipalities in the area of water supply and
sanitation (WS&S)�many through municipal strengthening and
environment programs. In
general, USAID efforts have focused more on drinking-water supply than
on sanitation.
EHP is currently implementing an activity focused on sanitation
improvement in small towns. Small towns in LAC typically have
populations between 5,000 and 30,000. Small towns typically are not in a position
technically, financially, or institutionally to provide
sanitation services effectively. The EHP activity examines these issues and
proposes a strategy for sustainable sanitation services in small
towns.
Two primary outcomes are envisioned from the activity: (1) a
strategic paper that provides an overview of the issues involved in
improving sanitation in small towns and that identifies a strategy that can
be used in the planning of sustainable sanitation services and (2) a
step-by-step methodology that a local consultant team can use to develop the sanitation plan. Ultimately, the goal is to implement a
sanitation plan that is financially sustainable, protects the
environment, maximizes health benefits and is equitable.
EHP will field-test the methodology in the fall of
2001 in Ecuador and in two countries
to be identified in Central America and the Caribbean. Documents
will be finalized after the field tests are completed.
For information on the activity, please contact Fred Rosensweig ([email protected])
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The USAID Mission to the Democratic Republic of
Congo (USAID/DRCongo) has been implementing the Urban Environmental
Health Strategy. Developed by EHP in collaboration with the Regional Urban
Development Office (RUDO/Africa), the strategy focuses on diarrheal disease
prevention.
Short-term strategy interventions include the
implementation of three urban environmental health pilot projects.
One pilot project related to market sanitation was recently completed by
Action Against Hunger (Action Contre la Faim ACF-USA) and local
authorities, with technical assistance from EHP and the University of
Kinshasa School of Public Health. The objective of the pilot
project was to improve sanitary conditions in public markets in
Kinshasa.
Under the pilot project, new �sanitation units�
have been constructed in seven Kinshasa markets. These units include toilets, showers, water points for washing hands, water
storage tanks, septic tanks, and the ability to collect rainwater for
use in the units. In addition, 11 drinking water points have been
established in locations where water was not previously available to the
market vendors, restaurateurs, and customers. These new facilities
are under the management of nongovernmental organizations and private businesses, and
income generated through operation and use of the sanitation facilities
will be used to ensure their sustainability and maintenance.
Furthermore, hygiene education teams have been trained to provide
education to the market community on food and on individual, domestic, and
market hygiene. These trained specialists can be seen daily in the
markets, speaking with vendors, customers, and restaurant owners and
workers.
For information on the activity, please contact
Chris McGahey ([email protected])
at EHP.
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USAID/Peru�s Urban Environmental Health and
Behavior Change activity aims to reduce environmental health risks
associated with exposure to locally generated contaminants and pathogens
in periurban residential neighborhoods and communities. The activity�s
purpose will be achieved through four interventions: (1) policy improvement
assistance, (2) site-based pilot projects to demonstrate innovative
approaches in environmental health, (3) training and local institutional
strengthening and (4) development of community-based environmental health
risk monitoring capacity.
USAID/Peru�s primary counterpart for the activity
is DIGESA, the Environmental Health Division of the Ministry of Health.
During the past year, EHP worked with DIGESA in project planning and in
a variety of activities related to childhood lead poisoning. Under the
Urban Environmental Health and Behavior Change activity, EHP will
provide a wide range of technical assistance and procurement support to
DIGESA and to implementing private voluntary organizations (PVOs) and
local authorities. Within this context, EHP�s first role has been the
design and delivery of a start-up workshop that seeks to ensure that all
actors and stakeholders involved have a clear understanding of the
activity and their respective roles.
The start-up workshop was held in Lima, Peru, the
week of September 10. The workshop was attended by a USAID/Washington
representative as well as a three-member EHP team, which included the
EHP Director. Approximately 40 participants attended the workshop,
including key staff from the implementing partners�DIGESA, USAID/Peru,
CARE�and representatives from key stakeholders, such as the World Bank
Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) and the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (USCDC), the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, the Pan American Health Organization, SEDAPAL (the national
water supply and sanitation agency), and CONAM (the national
environmental protection agency).
For information on the Peru
activity and the workshop, please contact Eddy Perez ([email protected]).
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A mini-portal on environmental health has been established
on the Information Services page to provide access to more environmental
health information resources.
In addition to the usual categories on our Information
Services page, new categories of information resources include
Bibliographic Databases, Development News Sources, Commercial News
Sources, Reference Resources, and Statistical Resources.
The address for the mini-portal is
http://www.ehproject.org/live/Infoser.html.
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A. Links
to Malaria Bulletins
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Previous
Issues of "What's New?"
The main topics or countries
discussed are given in parentheses.
August 2001 (India,
Eritrea, Democratic Republic of the Congo, BBIN Network, information
exchange network)
June 2001 (Mozambique,
Madagascar, Nepal, Dominican Republic, indoor air pollution consultation,
Nairobi SIMA Conference)
May 2001
(Central America handwashing initiative, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Eritrea, Nepal, Bolivia)
March
2001 (Nicaragua, Madagascar, Africa, DDT cost comparison)
January
2001 at EHP (EHP
Activities, E-Newsletter, National Malaria Control Programs in 4 African
Countries, Congo, Decentralization in Latin America, Peru, WSSCC Forum,
Global WS&S Assessment from WHO/UNICEF)
November
2000 at EHP (Nicaragua,
Dominican Republic, Madagascar, SANICONN)
September
2000 at EHP (Nepal/Regional,
EHP and E-conferences)
July
2000 at EHP
(Nicaragua, Malaria
Vaccine Development, "Water for the World")
May/June
2000 at EHP
(Nicaragua, International
Consultation on Indoor Air Pollution)
April 2000 at EHP (Nicaragua,
Madagascar, Mozambique)
March 2000 at EHP
(Benin, South Africa,
Eritrea, Madagascar)
February 2000 at EHP
(Nicaragua, Paraguay,
Ukraine, Mozambique and Eritrea)
January
2000 at EHP (Nicaragua,
EHP Lessons Learned)
Previous
Issues of "What's New?" by Country
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