Dubai Cares initiative helps Madagascar schools

The Dubai Cares has partnered with the Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) facilities in schools in two of Madagascar's largest cities: Antananarivo and Mahajanga.
The three-year programme, which represents an investment of Dh3.8 million, will benefit 14,250 children and 33,750 community members.
The new programme aims to construct and rehabilitate Wash facilities in school and health centres to ensure availability of services in 30 schools, including 21 primary and nine secondary schools. The facilities will meet the minimum quality requirements set by the Ministry of Education in Madagascar.
The programme also aims to ensure that these facilities are run and maintained under a financially sustainable management model by facilitating the establishment of a School Wash Committee in each school.
In addition, the programme will provide hygiene education in schools, communities and health centers, to contribute to sustainable behavioural change. The programme will also support the schools to go through the various stages required to be officially certified by the Ministry of Education as a 'WASH friendly school'.
Furthermore, the programme aims to provide capacity building to local institutions and to influence policy at the local and national government levels to enable long term systemic change. Through this programme, Dubai Cares aims to work closely with its partners at community, municipal and national level to ensure an effective rollout.
Abdulla Ahmed Al Shehhi, chief operating officer at Dubai Cares, said: "Our new programme will be implemented in Antananarivo and Mahajanga, where the consequences of poor WASH infrastructure have been devastating for families. Diarrheal as well as cholera diseases are the leading causes of death of children under five, and adequate access to Wash facilities can prevent a significant proportion of such diseases.
"The long-lasting benefits of our latest Wash programme will not only provide much-needed Wash facilities across schools, but will also educate communities on how they can enhance their standards of hygiene to prevent illnesses."
Moreover, the programme will include a comprehensive operational research component, designed specifically to build the evidence base to support increased and more effective government investment in Wash programmes. The research will rely on identifying implementation and capacity bottlenecks from community all the way up to national level, including outcome evaluation focused on attendance rates and community outreach impacts.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com
 

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