Newsletter 3, October 2003

Year of publication: 2003

Introduction

This is the third and last newsletter informing you about our multi-country research into the sustainability of changes in hygiene behaviour. In April we had our third and final workshop in Entebbe, Uganda, where we looked at the entire set of data, analysed those data and developed conclusions and recommendations. In this newsletter you will first find:

• a brief recap on the background of the research and how it is set up;
• a sneak preview of the research findings;
• information on what we do about dissemination of research findings;
• a summary of the project evaluation;
• contributions from the various research partners.

Should you want to react or require further information about the project, please get in touch with one of us. You find the contact details on the last page of this newsletter. If you want to receive a copy of the previous issues of this newsletter, please mailto Petra Brussee at IRC through: general@irc.nl, write us or look at our web-site: http://www.irc.nl/page/288. More information can also be found in the January 2004 issue of Waterlines, where we will publish four articles. In March next year we hope to publish a couple of booklets on various issues related to the research.

A brief recap about the research and the research partners

It is now close to three years since the start of this project, which aims to study the sustainability of changes in hygiene behaviour. The project combines a concerted action financed by the European Commission (EC) and actual field research, financed by the Dutch government (DGIS) and the project partners. The project is coming to an end now and had the following objectives:

· To develop an active network in the field of hygiene promotion;

· To assess the level of sustainability of behavioural change one to three years after a hygiene promotion intervention;

· To develop a methodology for simple/cost-effective longitudinal monitoring of behavioural changes;

· To gain insight into relationships between project approaches, external conditions and sustainability of changes in hygiene behaviour;

· To determine policy and programming implications and influence policy to increase the effectiveness of water and sanitation programmes.

Early 2001 the research teams came together to define the research framework, to develop country specific research hypotheses as well as the tools for data collection.

The entire research centered around the following behaviours: handwashing, latrine use and maintenance and water storage. Datawere collected from households and schools, whereby data collection was done through questioning (using questionnaires, pocket chart voting and focus group discussions), observation and demonstration. The data coming from the two rounds of data collection was analysed. By combining the findings with background information about the implementation of the hygiene promotion programmes, conclusions and recommendations for hygiene promotion programmes were formulated.