Evaluation of the Dubai Cares WASH in School Initiative

Summary

This study will use longitudinal data collection to quantify the impact of a school-based water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) program in Mali, West Africa, on pupil absenteeism, diarrheal illness, and respiratory illness.

Data will be collected from 100 intervention and 100 control schools across 4 regions in Mali. At each school research staff will randomly select 60 pupils in grades 3-6 (typically ages 7-14). Research staff will ask school directors to provide written consent for pupil participation in place of parents, a procedure that has been approved by the Malian Ministry of Education. Research staff will approach selected pupils at school to request informed oral assent for participation. The informed assent process and data collection will be conducted by local trained enumerators in the child's preferred language of French or Bambara. Oral rather than written assent was chosen due to varied literacy capabilities and to limit paperwork that identifies participants.

Data collection will take place at each school once every six to eight weeks during the duration of two school years. Research staff will conduct observations of school facilities, observations of handwashing behavior of children upon leaving latrines, and an interview with the school director about WASH conditions and school enrollment information. None of these school activities collect personal data or identifiers. Data collection with pupils will be done with the same pupils every 6-8 weeks and entails a 5-minute interview asking about recent absence and symptoms of diarrhea and respiratory illness.

All data collection will occur at the school, will be conducted by trained local enumerators, and will be stored on password-protected mobile data collection devices. Data will be uploaded to a password-protected server and will not contain personal identifying information. Enumerators will maintain a separate form that links pupil IDs with names, which will be kept confidential. There are no direct benefits other than contribution to general knowledge that will inform future school WASH projects. There are no risks to participation other than a small amount of class time missed by pupils, and great efforts will be made to minimize time outside of class.

Conditions

• Absenteeism
• Diarrhea
• Respiratory Tract Infections

Interventions

OTHER

Dubai Cares beneficiary

Installation or rehabilitation of school water points, latrines and hygiene kits; promotion of good WASH practices and behavior change at school and within the community; establishment of management systems to ensure sustained WASH financing, monitoring and maintenance.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• WaterAid

  collaborator OTHER

• Dubai Cares

  collaborator OTHER

• CARE

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Save the Children

  collaborator OTHER

• Oxfam

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• UNICEF

  collaborator OTHER

• Emory University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Matthew C Freeman, PhD · Emory University

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Years

Max Age

14 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-01-31

Primary Completion

2014-06-30

Completion

2014-06-30

Countries

• Mali

Study Locations