PRO-WASH (Practices, Research and Operations in Water, Sanitation & Hygiene) Quarterly Report: Y3Q3

Three Training of Trainers (ToT) were held in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, providing DFSA staff with hands-on experience implementing the training, which can be cascaded to their own staff in the coming months. Follow-up surveys and discussions with training participants and their managers will be conducted in November 2019 to assess integration of key concepts into programming and identify opportunities for module improvements. Outreach to emergency food security programs (EFSPs) also continued during this quarter. Early in Quarter 2, PRO-WASH and SCALE launched a joint survey aimed at gathering program information and identifying areas of potential WASH technical assistance. Surveys were distributed to WASH and Food Security Cluster members, OFDA, Food for Peace EFSP contacts, Associate Award Technical Committees, and through the FSN Network. In Quarter 3, the PRO-WASH team conducted 15 follow-up interviews with respondents, with additional discussions planned for Quarter 4. Feedback collected will be reflected in technical assistance and capacity strengthening activities within PRO-WASH’s Year 3 workplan. PRO-WASH and SCALE deepened their engagement and planning with DFSA stakeholders in Niger this quarter. A joint call was held with representatives from each DFSA and their subs managing WASH activities to better understand their current workplan for WASH activities, identify areas of additional support, and detail their respective timelines leading into the culmination of the Refine and Implement period. Follow-on conversations have been conducted with the GIRMA, Wadata, and Hamzari DFSAs to discuss the potential for an applied research sub-award, which would utilize a human-centered design approach to understanding the availability and demand for sanitation supplies and services in the Zinder and Maradi regions. PRO-WASH is also closely coordinating with IDEAL and USAID/Food for Peace (FFP) on a pre-workshop session during the December 2019 Refine and Implement Culmination Workshop focusing on WASH. The majority of planned activities for Y2Q3 are currently on target, with delays in the development of the water quality monitoring guide. PRO-WASH continued efforts to conduct outreach to USAID and other external WASH stakeholders, holding additional stakeholder consultations with iDE, FHI360, Wateraid, and the Office of Water (E3) to discuss the planned market-based sanitation training package and other potential areas of collaboration. PRO-WASH met with representatives from USAID-funded Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS) to discuss the findings of their recently released comparative study of maintenance models for community-managed water schemes. A number of DFSA partners in Ethiopia, Uganda, and the Sahel have expressed a need for additional support and guidance around maintaining and professionalizing operations and maintenance models. Over the next two quarters, PRO-WASH will be working with SWS to identify some initial opportunities to engage both DFSAs and the study’s authors around possible technical assistance and knowledge sharing. Beyond USAID-funded stakeholders, PRO-WASH conducted stakeholder consultations to gather initial feedback on an outline for the proposed market-based sanitation training package. Additional details are provided under Purpose 5. PRO-WASH continued its collaboration across IDEAL and other TOPS Associate Awards, with the PRO-WASH team engaged as a core member of the IDEAL Resilience Community of Practice along with both SCALE and REAL. The SCALE and PRO-WASH Associate Awards also maintain regular, biweekly coordination meetings. The SCALE and PRO-WASH teams are working together as outreach continues to DFSAs in Niger and Burkina Faso. Currently, the directors of both associate awards will be present at the upcoming Refine and Implement Culmination Workshop in Niger in December 2019. Work in the Sahel across DFSAs is also being coordinated with USAID Mission staff, Country Backstop Officers, IDEAL, and their regional representative for West Africa. Consultations with EFSPs were conducted in Y2Q3, with follow-up interviews with respondents to the SCALE/PRO-WASH survey of humanitarian partners conducted with 15 individuals from Food for the Hungry, Catholic Relief Services, Project Concern International, Mercy Corps, ADRA, and a number of other organizations covering emergency responses in South America, West Africa, and the Middle East. Stakeholders from World Vision’s Rohingya Response (EFSP) joined the MMCA training with other DFSA representatives during the August MMCA training in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The PRO-WASH Technical Steering Committee met on September 30th, with the agenda focusing on a programmatic debrief of activities, including the recent MMCA training in Bangladesh, as well as work on developing the water quality monitoring and market-based sanitation manuals. The latter half of the meeting provided additional details to Committee members about details regarding PRO-WASH’s Year 3 workplan for the group’s inputs and suggested revisions. The team received valuable ideas around potential areas for future capacity