USAID at the 2020 UNC Water and Health Conference
The 2020 UNC Water and Health Conference: Science, Policy, and Practice, hosted by the University of North Carolina (UNC)-Chapel Hill, will take place from October 26–30, 2020.
Below is a list of USAID–related Verbal Presentations, Side Events, and Posters to be presented at the 2020 UNC Water and Health Conference, which this year is entirely virtual. All information is current as of October 21, 2020. To access a full list of conference events, please click here. This is not an exhaustive listing of USAID–related events, and updates will be made to this page as they become available.
To attend the conference, you must register and create a profile on the conference website. The introductory video about the conference agenda and organization is very useful.
Monday, October 26
Side Events
Hand Hygiene: During COVID-19 and Beyond: 13:15–15 EDT
Convening Organizations: Global Handwashing Partnership, Emory University, FHI 360, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UNICEF, Unilever, University College London, USAID, and the World Bank and 2030 Water Resources Group
One of the most effective ways to stop the spread of a virus, like the novel coronavirus, is also one of the simplest: hand hygiene. This side event will present the science behind hand hygiene, provide case studies from the field, and highlight the way forward for Hand Hygiene for All.
Tuesday, October 27
Side Events
Applying Innovative Financing to Urban Sanitation: Lessons from Recent Experiences and Research on Funding Gap: 9–10:15 EDT
Convening Organizations: The Aquaya Institute (USAID), Social Finance, University of Leeds, iDE
To achieve SDG 6.2 in urban areas, planners need to examine the volume of funding required but also how this funding is structured. This session will discuss opportunities to apply innovative financing in urban sanitation, drawing on recent examples in WASH and new research about the scale of the funding gap.
Poster Presentations
Financial and Functionality Returns of Professional Maintenance of Rural Water Services in Kenya: 15:15–16:15 EDT
Hosted by USAID SWS, University of Colorado Boulder, and Oxford University
Various maintenance approaches have emerged in recent years to improve the sustainability of rural water services, but not much quantitative analysis has been done to understand their effectiveness. This study uses real data collected over several years to model and test policy and operational strategies for professional maintenance from which recommendations can be applied to maintenance approaches in a variety of contexts.
Dignity, Agency, Power: Exploring the Linkages between Women's Economic Empowerment and Workplace MHM in Nepal: 15:15–16:15 EDT
Hosted by USAID WASHPaLS, Iris Group
Viewed as a woman's private issue, little attention is paid to Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), especially in the workplace. This action research is a first of its kind, focusing specifically on the workplace MHM experience, and attempting to understand the financial and social costs and benefits of proper MH to both the female workforce and the employer.
What Are the Drivers of Slippage in ODF Communities? Lessons from Ghana: 15:15–16:15 EDT
Hosted by USAID WASHPaLS, UNICEF Ghana
This study examines the issue of slippage using full-census data in 98 Open Defecation Free communities. Because we surveyed all households (as opposed to a subset), we are able to make accurate estimates of slippage at the community level and examine the influence of a range of factors on community-level slippage. The majority of sustainability evaluations typically rely on surveys of a subset of households, which allow estimating household-level slippage but not community-level slippage.
Wednesday, October 28
Side Events
Sanitation: New Pathways to Action and Scale: 11:45–12:45 EDT
Convening Organizations: The Water Institute, University of Leeds, UNICEF, WHO, AMCOW, and USAID Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnerships and Learning for Sustainability (WASHPaLS)
The last few years have seen a surge of activity around sanitation, with some new research that helps refine implementation approaches, collaboration on sanitation advocacy, and interest from governments in establishing policy and accelerating progress. This session will give us a chance to take an overview of these recent additions to the sanitation literature, and to discuss what drives progress and scale in sanitation.
Poster Presentations
Decision Support Tools for Sanitation-Related Policymaking: 9–10 EDT
Hosted by USAID WASHPaLS
Reviews of decision-support tools in the sanitation sector find that they are largely oriented toward sanitation technology selection. We did not find examples of tools or cost-benefit analyses of sanitation-related policies. This approach, while established in other sectors, is, therefore, novel in the sanitation context and will benefit from adoption to generate evidence on its efficacy.
From Mere Artisans to Wealthy Sanitation Microentrepreneurs with WC MIMIN: 9–10 EDT
Hosted by USAID Sanitation Service Delivery (SSD)
Prior to SSD's intervention, the sanitation market was segmented, often requiring six people or more: a sales agent to generate demand and a plumber, carpenter, mason, pit digger, and concrete ring manufacturer for construction and installation.
Who Pays for Water? Comparing L: Life Cycle Costs of Water Services among Several Low, Medium, and High-Income Utilities: 9–10 EDT
Hosted by University of Colorado Boulder, USAID SWS
A recent review found only a third of published studies of utility efficiency in low-income countries include service quality variables, including leakage, water quality, continuity of service, and service area coverage (Cetrulo et al. 2019). This review also found no published quantitative studies for three of the four countries in this study: Cambodia, Ethiopia, or Kenya.
Thursday, October 29
Side Events
What the Cluck? Improving Hygienic Environments for Children: 9–10:15 EDT
Convening Organizations: USAID WASHPaLS; Clean, Fed & Nurtured Coalition; Johns Hopkins University/Food for the Hungry; North Carolina State University/ The Water Trust; Emory University/Gram Vikas; Cranfield University/People in Need; Stanford University; icddr,b; EarthEnable
Interactive session featuring pioneering research to protect young children from direct and indirect exposure to human and animal feces, including infant playpens, safe disposal of child feces, improved animal management practices, and improved flooring.
Advancing Rural Water Services: Strengthening Systems for Professionalized Maintenance and Fit-for-Purpose Water Quality Monitoring: 9–10:15 EDT
Convening Organizations: USAID Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership (SWS), REACH, Helvetas Nepal
Achieving SDG 6 requires government institutions, regulators, donors and operators to professionalize rural water services, including delivering improvements in maintenance and water safety. This joint session will share learnings from two initiatives seeking to understand and strengthen systems that underpin both maintenance and water quality monitoring in low-income rural areas.
Menstruation & WASH: Learning from Global Humanitarian Emergencies and Workplace Contexts: 10:30–11:45 EDT
Convening Organizations: USAID, WaterAid, Columbia University, International Rescue Committee
Around the world women and girls experience a range of menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) challenges, especially those who live and work in low-resource or displacement environments. This session will examine MHH issues, lessons learned, and potential solutions from two unique global contexts: humanitarian emergencies and workplace settings.
Missing Links in Sanitation Market Systems: Institutional Accountability and Demand Activation: 10:30–11:45 EDT
Convening Organizations: RTI International, USAID WASHPaLS
The session spotlights two critical gaps that hinder the scaling of sanitation markets and the efficacy of interventions. At the macro-level, the lack of institutional accountability for holistic sanitation-related market rules and policies, and at the micro-level, the need to bridge demand generation and supply through demand activation.
What is all the Hubbub About Having a Hub? 10:30–11:45 EDT
Convening Organizations: Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, IRC WASH, Millennium Water Alliance, USAID SWS (including Mortenson Center in Global Engineering, Environmental Incentives, and Tetra Tech)
Collective action (CA) approaches, often inclusive of a hub, bring together sector actors to work cohesively under a shared vision on complex challenges. CA seems to increase impact and sustainability, however, research is ongoing. This session will discuss CA approaches, recent research, and the roles and design considerations of hubs.
Poster Presentations
Water Allocation Planning for Securing Water for Health: 15:15–16:15 EDT
Hosted by USAID Sustainable Water Partnership
Use of digital platforms for water abstraction surveys and robust decision formulation to address uncertainty.
Cross-Case Comparison of Fourteen Collective Action Approaches in WASH: 15:15–16:15 EDT
Hosted by USAID SWS (including University of Colorado Boulder and Environmental Incentives)
There is a lack of empirical evidence regarding how collective action approaches can be designed successfully in WASH contexts and what results can be expected from a "successful” collective action approach. This study will present results from 14 case studies of collective action approaches for sustainable WASH in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Cambodia.
