WASH in Urban Emergencies (Online Course)

Overview

This is an online event.

ABOUT THE COURSE

The WASH in Urban Emergencies course will equip experienced WASH humanitarians with the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively work in the early stages of an urban emergency, and to identify the unique challenges of working in urban environments.

BACKGROUND

In an ever-urbanising world, aid agencies and relief work must too shift to being more effective and adaptable to working in urban areas, and those operating in the spaces must understand the unique challenges that urban environments present. Aid agencies have struggled to effectively respond to recent urban emergencies, with many of their WASH staff lacking the necessary knowledge and expertise in urban response. The urban context is much more complex than many rural or camp-focused emergencies, and requires different skills and knowledge. For example, hygiene promotion needs to be tailored to a much more diverse audience and ways of messaging need to mimic urban methods.

Typical emergency WASH responses are often inappropriate in urban areas: emergency water distribution often marginalises small scale water sellers; pit latrines are not always the most culturally appropriate solution or physically possible as space is limited and land ownership disputed.

What you will learn

COURSE CONTENT

Sessions covered will include:

• WASH standards & guidelines in urban emergencies

• Water & sanitation technologies in urban context

• Hygiene promotion in urban context

• Solid waste and disaster waste management

What you require

COURSE METHODOLOGY

The duration of the facilitated on-line course is 6 consecutive weeks where all activities take place on-line. It is expected that you spend around three to five hours per week on participating in team activities and completing individual tasks. Most of the activities are asynchronous, meaning you can log in when convenient for you, whether that is during the working day, in the evening at home or while travelling. However, there will be some webinars where a time will be scheduled and participants will need to be available to participate in tasks; this will cater to different time zones and working schedules.

The most important thing is that participants are fully committed to completing the course and sharing their own experiences with the other participants they will be working with. The maximum number of participants is 24.