1. GOAL CSP OPERATIONAL
RESEARCH ON WATERGAURD
May 2012 Core Group Meeting

2. CHILD SURVIVAL OVERVIEW
 Project Location; Sidama Zone of two Woredas;
Awassa Zuriya and Boricha.
 Duration: Four years October 2007 – September
2011 (New Partner Status)
 Target Population: Children 0-23 months
(13,490) and Pregnant and Lactating
Mothers(6,700) indirectly targeted.
 Key Stakeholders: Community groups, Woreda
Health Offices, PSI, Save US (also implementing
child survival grant in this location)

3. MAP OF PROGRAMME LOCATION
Sidama Zone:
Child Survival Programme in
Two Woredas in this location
Awassa and Boricha

4. CHILD SURVIVAL INTERVENTION AREAS
Overall Objective:
To contribute to a sustainable reduction in
maternal and child mortality and improved
health outcomes for the local community
4.Prevention and Treatment of Malaria 25%
5.Community based Control of Diarrhea 25%
6.Maternal and Newborn care 25%
7.Nutrition 25%

5. PROBLEM STATEMENT
 Problem: Child malnutrition and diarrheal
disease a significant problem in the
community
 Boricha Woreda - access to safe water
 Baseline KPC survey -54.5% of mothers reported
that their child had had diarrhoea in the previous 2
weeks.

6. PROBLEM STATEMENT
 Incidence of diarrhoea in Boricha (64.9%)
Awassa (43.9%).
 Outbreaks of water borne diseases common -
MoH periodically distributed WG to Health Posts
 Distribution only in event of an outbreak
 Lack of knowledge: re- management of water in
the home and approaches to HH treatment of
water

7. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Findings: HH limited capacity to improve
the quality of their drinking water
Water Guard was not for sale in local
markets (survey of local markets)
HH mainly filtered water manually using a
cloth sieve (KPC survey)

8. OPERATIONAL RESEARCH
QUESTION DEVELOPED
 AIM: To measure the acceptability of WG; to
determine cost effectiveness, sustainability
and acceptability in the local community.
METHODOLOGY:
 Use Care Groups to collect data and Observe
trends in diarrhea cases
 Observe trends of WG utilization at HH level
 Added value: Involvement of FMOH

9. FURTHER RESEARCH TOOK
PLACE
Key Objectives of Research
2.Generate qualitative information - development of a
sustainable social marketing of WG Strategy
3.Explore demand, attitudes, expectations and benefits of
the use of WG at household level
4.Explore community experiences from using WG at the
household level
5.Understand the actual and potential barriers for
communities in the use of WG

10. MAIN FINDINGS
 Acceptance: ‘diarrhea was just part of life’
 Control: … knew the water they were drinking
was ‘dirty’ yet had ‘no power’ to control this
and few other options
 Knowledge: knew about WG and that
occasionally available from Health Post
 Availability & Cost: …Where to get WG
consistently? Willing to purchase, price a key
factor

11. WG RESEARCH SET UP
l Trial period: Care Group Mothers given WG
for free (first 3 months) and followed up with
communities
l Partner: PSI contacted to provide technical
support and advice on how to social
marketing would work, research questions

12. WG RESEARCH SET UP
1. PSI provided training, promotional
materials and support visits –
complementarity with existing work
nationally (donor USAID)
2. Interested local vendors identified &
workshop
3. Price setting: with support of PSI and
Vendors

13. WG IMPLEMENTATION
 First round of WG provided to vendors
(53 in total) for free and the follow up
supplies they ‘purchased’ at below cost
 Vendors – recorded sales and stock of
WG
 GOAL staff with MoH monitor supply
sites monthly – sales & uptake

14. CHALLENGES
 Price setting – [prices set too high- sales of
WG were less than expected]
Solution
 Pricing: Achieved a balance between profit for
vendors / incentive and uptake by poor
 Discussion with Stakeholders: Care Group
Mothers also asked to value the product

15. Conclusions
 Treatment Using Water Guard rose from 5% to 74%
from baseline to final KPC
 HEW, Care Group Mothers and Community
understood the benefits of using WG & HH treatment
of water
 Local network of vendors stock WG in their stalls
 Research was also linked in with promotion of use of
Zinc and ORS at Health Posts

16. Conclusions
 1st OR process for GOAL Ethiopia - Could
have been clearer about OR questions at
outset
 Mid term evaluation an opportunity for
stakeholders to review research - a useful
process for GOAL staff

17. FOLLOW UP
 Work is continuing in Awassa and Boricha after
completion of the CS program in 2011
 Still need to do further research to determine how
some vendors have very high sales and a few others
have very low sales-some informal feedback could
suggest this is due to availability of safe water source
in the community
 Community members were prepared to pay for WG if
the price was within their budget and they clearly
valued and used the product in the HH
 GOAL to determine if this approach is something we
would like to expand beyond current location

18. Thank you!