Archives

Emergency Vector Control Using Chemicals 2nd Ed. (WEDC, 2004)

This handbook has been written with the specific objective of providing practical guidance and an overview of vector control in emergency situations for relief workers and local personnel. It will enable them to develop the skills required to plan and implement a vector control project in an emergency situation, where there is a vector-borne disease epidemic, or where the risk of an epidemic is high.

Emergency Water Sources (WEDC, 1997)

These guidelines have been designed to help those involved in the assessment of emergency water sources to collect relevant information in a systematic way, to use this information to select a source or sources and to determine the appropriate level of treatment required to make the water suitable for drinking.

Emergency Sanitation (WEDC, 2002)

The book Emergency Sanitation: Assessment and programme design has been produced to assist those involved in planning and implementing emergency sanitation programmes. The main focus of the book is a systematic and structured approach to assessment and programme design. It provides a balance between the hardware (technical) and software (socio-cultural, institutional) aspects of sanitation programmes, and links short-term emergency response to long-term sustainability. The book is relevant to a wide range of emergency situations, including both natural and conflict-induced disasters, and open and closed settings. It is suitable for field technicians, engineers and hygiene promoters, as well as staff at agency headquarters.

Excreta Disposal in Emergencies – A Field Manual (WEDC, 2007)

The purpose of the manual is to provide practical guidance on how to select, design, construct and maintain appropriate excreta disposal systems in emergency situations. Relevant situations include natural disasters, relief for refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), and complex emergencies, focusing on rural and peri-urban areas. The manual presents a process, which can be followed to assess the current excreta disposal needs and priorities, and to design an appropriate programme to respond to those needs. It can also be used to select appropriate excreta disposal technologies, systems, and hygiene promotion interventions. The manual provides guidance on how to plan, design and construct systems, and how to maintain and promote appropriate use of those systems.

Implementing Urine Diversion Dry Toilets in Dolo Addo, Ethiopia (UNHCR, OXFAM GB and CDC, 2014)

The choice of sanitation technology in humanitarian crisis is based on various factors including the terrain, social and cultural norms and agency experience. There is the continued need for humanitarian response mechanisms to factor the environmental impact and sustainability of the technologies used in the provision of safe water supply and sanitation to affected communities. The acceptability of using ecological sanitation technologies such as Urine Diversion Dry Toilets (UDDT) in refugee contexts needs significant exploration. Using refugee camps in Dollo Ado as a case study, this paper outlines how the UDDT technology has been implemented in the context of protracted refugee camps, the successes and the areas needing further exploration to make it better able to be adopted across various refugee programmes and contexts.

Sustainable Groundwater Management for Refugee Camps in Dadaab, Kenya (UNHCR and Université de Neuchâtel, 2013)

Close to half a million refugees live in Dadaab, Kenya and rely on groundwater from the Merti Aquifer. Preliminary hydrogeological mapping indicates over exploitation of the fresh water aquifer could result in salt water intrusion, which would put the security of water supply for the refugee camps and host population at risk. UNHCR together with University of Neuchâtel has embarked on a comprehensive study of the Merti Aquifer including remote monitoring, and numerical modelling of the aquifer in order to develop a sustainable groundwater management plan for the aquifer which supplies water to all the refugee camps in Dadaab, Kenya.