MRCS BUILDS eWASH CAPACITIES FOR EMERGENCIES

MRCS builds eWASH capacities for emergencies

WASH is the acronym for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion.  In a disaster response WASH interventions cover 6 types of activities and these activities can change over the different phases of a response from the acute emergency phase where immediate life-saving assistance is given through to the recovery phase, where the move is towards more sustainable activities and potentially connecting eventually into longer-term development programs.

In WASH, water supply is not exclusively for drinking but for personal hygiene, cleaning, cooking and religious observance. It might involve water treatment on a large scale or at the household level and needs to encompass how people will collect and store water so activities under water supply also often include distribution of jerry cans or water storage receptacles.

The Sanitation component is split into 2 categories here both excreta disposal, generally provision of toilets including possibly emptying and treating of faecal sludge as well as solid waste management essentially on the collection and disposal of garbage.

Hygiene promotion is about mobilising people to take action to protect their health by making good use of the water, sanitation and hygiene-enabling facilities and services provided.

The Malaysian Red Crescent Sarawak Chapter (MRC) is organising this first ever Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion (e-WASH) training program to be held from 22nd to 25th July 2022 and is hosted by MRC Miri Branch.

The objective is to build up the capacity of its volunteers and staff for eWASH interventions in any disasters where there is water crises or sanitation in emergencies.  This is within the Society’s mandate and in tandem with the International Red Cross Movement’s Fundamental Principles of humanity – to alleviate human sufferings during any crisis or disaster.

Under this e-WASH training, participants will be trained on three disciplines namely, (1) Water Access, (2) Sanitation and (3) Hygiene Promotion. Participants will have practical sessions on water sourcing and mass water treatment, including household water treatment and safe storage. For sanitation in emergencies, participants are expose to the planning, design and construction of emergencies sanitation

The training emphasises on Hygiene Promotion as it is important to ensure that the affected population are aware of key public health risks and are able to adopt safe hygiene practices and also to maximise the use and benefits of e-WASH facilities and services.

A total of 23 participants from various MRC Branches across Sarawak are participating in this training.  The climax of this training is the staging of an eWASH simulation exercise on 25 July 2022 during the closing ceremony of this training program.

The training sessions will be conducted by a team of facilitators led by Miss Wendy Neoh, Senior eWASH Officer of International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)  and supported by a team of national eWASH facilitators from Malaysian Red Crescent (MRC) National Headquarters.