Suchergebnisse

© Practical Action Publishing, 2019. The definitive, peer-reviewed and edited version of this article (Version of Scholarly Record) is published in Waterlines, 38, 2, pp.123-134, 2019, https://doi.org/10.3362/1756-3488.18-00039. ; This paper presents the main results from a knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) survey on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in government schools in the State of Palestine (SoP). In 2012 a baseline WASH KAP survey was conducted in 411 schools. In 2015–2016 a statistically representative survey was performed; the sample included 381 of the 411 schools originally sampled in 2012. The survey targeted basic and secondary schools in urban and rural areas of all educational directorates in the West Bank and Gaza. The survey was conducted by UNICEF in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE). The findings of the 2016 survey show positive changes in the availability of potable water in schools, which also enabled hygiene and sanitation activities to improve. For instance, more schools taught hygiene education to students on a daily basis in 2016 than in 2012. However, the survey revealed that ensuring the participation of parents and students in WASH activities and continuity of supply of soap, toilet paper and sanitary pads remains a challenge. This paper concludes with recommendations to further improve the access to WASH in Palestinian schools.

This is a conference paper. ; There are no easy conventional solution to Gaza's chronic water crisis and impending environmental catastrophe. Seawater desalination is one of the key transformative interventions strategically considered to address both these issues. UNICEF, with European Union funding, therefore initiated the implementation of a seawater desalination programme in late 2012. The first phase of the seawater desalination plant producing 6,000 m3/d, is the largest to be completed in Gaza and is to be extended to produce 20,000 m3/d to ultimately serve a population of 250,000 people. Seawater desalination remaining an energy intensive process, focus has been on identifying innovative means of generating and conserving energy to tackle the energy-water nexus, given the limited availability of electricity within Gaza. Advance renewable energy and energy recovery technologies have been incorporated to maximise the plant's viability. Such transformative technologies is essential to ensure that Gaza remains a liveable place in the years to come.