Climate Smart WASH Programming Training

“Climate Change” and ways to cope with it are topics which have gained paramount importance in the recent past. In the African context where we experience erratic weather patterns in the form of droughts, high intensity storms and floods, there are many uncertainties inherent in the climate change predictions. It is well known that most water supply and sanitation systems fail during extreme weather conditions. As a result, the effects of these changes on water supply, sanitation and human health are sometimes very complex and not amenable to simplistic formulations. It is very important that we are enabled to analyze these changes and develop resilient water supply and sanitation systems.

Africa has also high degree of spatial heterogeneity in climate, hydrology, geology, geo-hydrology, soils and topography, causing significant regional variations in the availability of water resources. There is also wide variation in access to improved sanitation and waste water treatment facilities. It is thus very important that site specific analysis of climate risks to WASH services be carried out and unique solutions to those problems identified and applied. This hands-on course will endeavor to have a discourse on the above issue

Training broad Objective.

This course will provide you with understanding of the links between Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI), and climate change, and will develop your capacity to address climate impacts in WASH programming and service delivery at the national and local levels.

Main Training Modules.

Understanding Climate Change

• Understanding Climate Change
• Formulation of Climate change policy
• Climate Hazards and Risk
• Contributors to Vulnerability to Climate Change
• Risk and Vulnerability Assessments
• Stakeholder Analysis and Participation
• Mitigation and Adaptation Practices
• Concept of climate change, risk, vulnerability and adaptation
• Risk and vulnerability assessment for climate change adaptation planning

The climate change challenge for WASH

• A framework for understanding how climate change impacts WASH
• The physical side of climate change
• The social side of climate change
• ‍Why focus on climate change, gender and social inclusion, and WASH?

Assessing climate impacts on WASH

• Different types of knowledge for assessing climate impacts on inclusive WASH
• Assessing psycho-social equity and inclusion factors
• Equitable resource access and capabilities
• Inclusive social structures and fair institutions
• Psychological factors
• Assessing physical systems
• Assessing livelihoods

Responding to climate hazards to inclusive WASH service delivery

• What is climate resilient WASH?
• Examples of climate responses for WASH
• A system strengthening framework for climate resilient WASH
• Institutional arrangements
• Capacity development
• Financing
• Infrastructure
• Planning, monitoring and review
• Environment and water resources
• User and community engagement

Building institutional capacity to support inclusive climate resilient WASH service delivery

• Assessing organizational adaptation readiness
• Understanding and changing mindsets
• The Q-methodology
•  Local government transformation workshops
• Making WASH programming and service delivery inclusive

Way forward After the Training

Participants will develop a work plan through the help of facilitators that stipulates application of skills acquired in improving their organizations. ASPM will monitor implementation progress after the training.

Training Evaluation:

Participants will undertake a simple assessment before the training to gauge knowledge and skills in the field and another assessment will be done after the training in-order to monitor knowledge gained through the training.