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Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

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Two men at a hand washing station. One of the men pours the water from a large water bottle over the other man's hands.

At a glance

Equal access to water, managing sanitation, safe hygiene practices and community engagement are essential to prevent disease and improve health

Fragile states, continuing and new crises are pushing the humanitarian system to its limits. Our work covers a wide range of contexts where people are vulnerable to WASH-related diseases. This includes working with communities to build resilience and delivering high-quality public health programmes which secure the health, safety, rights, and dignity of emergency-affected communities, particularly women and marginalized groups.

We support governments, civil partners and communities with holistic water resource management and public health promotion. This includes establishing sustainable governance of water resources at local and national levels and influencing people-centred health promotion interventions.

We also develop and integrate low cost innovations that offer sustainable and community driven solutions.

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WASH at Oxfam

Visit Oxfam WASH website

Briefing paper

Water Dilemmas: The cascading impacts of water insecurity in a heating world

29/09/2023

5 documents

19 pages long

Languages: Arabic, English, French

Keywords

Overview

This briefing paper presents findings from Oxfam’s recently commissioned research on climate predictions for 2040 and 2050 in the Middle East, the Horn, East and Central Africa (HECA), West Africa and Asia regions. Analyses show how temperature increases will influence water insecurity in these regions and the potential impacts on food security, the spread of […]

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Issue briefing

Unheard Water Stories from Asia, Africa and MENA: Elevating local voices for water security in a climate insecure world

20/11/2024

3 documents

19 pages long

Languages: Arabic, English, French

Keywords

Overview

This paper shares stories from six countries—Bangladesh, Nepal, Kenya, Somalia, Syria, and Iraq—highlighting the challenges communities face in accessing water. It seeks to bring forward the unique perspectives of communities from diverse backgrounds, each experiencing water crises in distinct ways. While climate change intensifies their crises, many communities also face marginalization due to exclusionary water […]

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Briefing paper

Water War Crimes: How Israel has weaponised water in its military campaign in Gaza

18/07/2024

1 documents

66 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

This report presents a detailed analysis of how the Government of Israel has systematically weaponized water against the Palestinians in its latest assault on Gaza, raising grave concerns of human rights violations and breaches of international law. It highlights ongoing violations of international laws, showing how the Government of Israel has used water deprivation to […]

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Technical briefing

Oxfam Minimum Requirements for WASH Programmes: MR-WASH

01/03/2013

3 documents

52 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

This paper is Oxfam’s essential guide for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) staff and partners. It describes the processes and standards that Oxfam WASH programmes should follow if they are to be carried out effectively, consistently and in a way which treats affected communities with respect. All WASH staff members are expected to understand and […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

The Oxfam Handwashing Station; How to set up, use and maintain communal handwashing stations

16/09/2020

1 documents

8 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

The Oxfam Handwashing Station is a durable, low-cost, easy to set up, use and transport handwashing station that can be put up in any open space in a variety of emergency and development contexts. The handwashing kit, which has been extensively field tested, features a 24-litre water tank and a 4-litre internal liquid soapy water […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

An Introduction to Community Engagement in WASH

17/01/2019

2 documents

28 pages long

Languages: English, French

Keywords

Overview

People affected by emergencies can face increased risks to health from inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and disease outbreaks. Involving communities affected by the crisis in the response, so that the delivery of facilities and services works for them, is a vital part of Oxfam’s WASH response in emergencies. Listening to different groups and […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Shining a Light: How lighting in or around sanitation facilities affects the risk of gender-based violence in camps

21/12/2018

10 documents

24 pages long

Languages: English, French

Keywords

Overview

Camps are places of refuge for people fleeing conflict and disaster, but they can be dangerous, especially for women and girls. In their first months, many camps rely on communal sanitation facilities – a quick and cost-effective way of meeting immediate needs and minimizing public health risks until a better solution can be developed. In […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Mum’s Magic Hands: A field guide for rapid implementation of handwashing promotion in emergencies

29/06/2018

1 documents

12 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

Diarrhoeal disease is the second leading cause of death in children under five years old, and is particularly prevalent in emergency situations. Handwashing can reduce the risk of diarrhoeal disease by up to 48%. Oxfam, Unilever’s Lifebuoy soap, and Unilever’s Chief Sustainability Office conducted research with emergency-affected mothers in the Philippines, Pakistan and Nepal in […]

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Technical briefing

Technical Guidelines on Water Trucking in Drought Emergencies

04/01/2013

1 documents

22 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

Emergency water trucking to drought-affected populations, particularly in the Horn of Africa, has become cyclical intervention as rainfall patterns in these areas has become increasingly unpredictable. In addition to being expensive and unsustainable, cyclical water trucking is coming under increased scrutiny as it increasingly appears to have negative impacts on pastoralist livelihoods, existing coping mechanisms […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Guide to Community Engagement in WaSH: A practitioners’ guide, based on lessons from Ebola

03/11/2016

1 documents

35 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

This guide is a compilation of best practices and key lessons learned through Oxfam’s experience of community engagement during the 2014 ’15 Ebola response in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It aims to inform public health practitioners and programme teams about the design and implementation of community-centred approaches. Key Lessons for Community Engagement in WASH (Water, […]

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Guidelines and toolkits

Cholera Outbreak Guidelines: Preparedness, prevention and control

13/08/2012

3 documents

105 pages long

Languages: English, French, Spanish

Keywords

Overview

This practical field guide brings together lessons learned from Oxfam’s past interventions in the prevention and control of cholera, and other related guidance. The aim is to provide a quick, step-by-step guide to inform cholera outbreak interventions and ensure public health programmes that are rapid, community-based, well-tailored, and gender and diversity aware. They will enable […]

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Research report

WASH Interventions in Disease Outbreak Response

28/02/2017

3 documents

88 pages long

Languages: English

Keywords

Overview

Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions (WASH) are commonly implemented as part of emergency response activities (i.e. in response to disease outbreaks) in low and middle-income countries. But what does the existing evidence tell us about what works? How does the use of WASH interventions reduce disease outbreaks? What are the programme design and implementation characteristics […]

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Photo captions and credit

Evance Banda and his friend Chikondi Sunganani, survivors of Cyclone Freddy, wash their hands at a displacement camp in Blantyre southern Malawi. Thoko Chikondi/Oxfam

Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

At a glance

WASH at Oxfam

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