Envisioning a Safer Tomorrow
Imagine a world where everyone has access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities, especially in challenging circumstances, where communities are prepared for emergencies and possible disasters and know how to act to recover quickly and sustainably. This is the world that Miyamoto and our partners are creating.
WASH interventions are crucial in emergency and disaster situations, as disrupted access to clean water and sanitation facilities can exacerbate health risks and worsen the conditions for impacted or displaced people. Timely WASH strategies prevent the spread of diseases and protect the health and well-being of affected populations.
Empowering Communities: Comprehensive Disaster Management with WASH Initiatives
Miyamoto integrates WASH activities throughout the disaster management cycle–from preparedness and mitigation planning with vulnerable communities in Northern Haiti to response and recovery efforts in earthquake-impacted Syria. This ensures a robust and effective intervention to serve humanitarian needs better.
Strengthening Haiti: Miyamoto's Pivotal Role in Disaster Preparedness and Rapid Response
In Haiti, Miyamoto supports knowledge exchange and capacity building through disaster risk reduction training, community mobilization events, and action planning on topics such as hygiene, cholera response, infection prevention and control, and village-level operation and maintenance (VLOM). In 2022, this training enabled outreach workers to quickly identify and treat a site of cholera contamination during an outbreak near Borgne, Haiti.
“In Borgne, this project prepared us to face the new outbreak of cholera. The results are really impressive.”
– Dr. Thony Voltaire, Medical Director at the Borgne Hospital
Miyamoto also responds to immediate humanitarian crises, including conducting rapid WASH assessments to inform early recovery planning. Our highly experienced field teams are supported in real-time by GIS experts to create rapid, field-ready maps that help prioritize humanitarian needs and target response efforts to locations and neighborhoods with the highest vulnerability.
Following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Syria in early 2023, Miyamoto’s team assessed water trucking capabilities and WASH facilities in health centers and shelter camps to develop recommendations for improved operations of WASH infrastructure. By integrating WASH solutions throughout the disaster management cycle, we can create a world where everyone is safe and healthy, even in the face of emergencies and disasters.
“Miyamoto’s holistic approach includes the needs of the entire community—schools, health facilities, government, and businesses. This helps to ensure that WASH interventions are relevant to complex contexts on the ground while serving the needs of those affected by conflict, disaster, or acute emergencies.”
-Miyamoto WASH Director Thomas Fergusson
