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= Elsa Sánchez and the UN-Water Award = During a celebration of World Water Day in 2012, Elsa Sanchez, director of the SODIS Foundation received the UN- Water Best Practices Award. The celebration took place in Rome on March 22 where representatives if the United Nations Office gathered to support the International Decade for Action “Water, source of life” 2005-2015.The UN-Water Best Practices Award is the highest recognition the SODIS Foundation has received for its work in the framework of equity, gender equality, and water.

What is the UN-Water Best Practices Award?
The purpose of the UN-Water Best Practices Award is to promote actions and efforts internationally that deal with water and water related issues. The goal is to have people and organizations commit to achieving a long-term sustainable management of water resources and contribute to the successful completion of the Millennium Development Goals.

Why did Elsa Sánchez and the SODIS Foundation Receive this Award?
The SODIS Foundation received first prize in the Best Practices contest in the category of public, educational, communication and awareness-raising participation, for the implementation of the "Communication Strategy for Social Change and Behaviors for the Promotion of Three Key Practices and the adequate use of the services, endowed in 4 municipalities of the department of Cochabamba". The SODIS Foundation decided to articulate a process to enhance and encourage community participation and empowerment of women in water and  hygiene and sanitation. The SODIS Foundation analyzed national statistics regarding mortality, literacy rates, and hygiene practices. Based on the statistics and the prevalence of gender inequality, SODIS verified that the most vulnerable population was primarily made up of women. Regarding hygiene practices, girls and women are mainly responsible for gathering water for consumption in communities. Therefore, SODIS concluded that an active process is needed to strengthen the roles and participation of women in water related issues and other projects that promote key practices of safe water consumption, hygiene and sanitation as well as gender equality. This is what urged the Foundation to create a strategy to promote safe water usage and sanitation in communities.

The Strategy: Communication Strategy for Social Change and Promotion of Three Key Practices
The Strategy SODIS implemented, developed within the framework of the Hygiene Project and financed by UNICEF, had the objective of achieving social and behavioral change in hygiene practices like hand-washing and safe water consumption. This included the filtration and storage of water at the household level, and adequate disposal of excreta. Throughout the educational process (which took place from April 1, 2010 to March 30, 2011), about 11,000 residents from 70 communities of 4 municipalities of the department of Cochabamba (Arque, Tacopaya, Bolívar and Sacabamba) participated in the strategy, with an emphasis on mothers of children under 5 years of age and of school children. The strategy SODIS used included four successive stages. The first stage included a situational diagnosis that then continued with the selection of a Community Organization for Women (CMO). The second stage included the development of a community self-diagnosis process and then the third stage included the implementation of a community educational project. The fourth stage consisted of  the monitoring and evaluation of all of the activities.

This strategy the SODIS implemented increased the capacity of Women's Community Organizations to carry out processes of community participation and empowerment. An increase in community participation and women's empowerment is related to and also increased the availability and consumption of safe water and the promotion of hygiene and sanitation in communities. Overall, the strategy also increased the education and knowledge of community members on safe drinking water practices, specifically the SODIS method: “from 33.6% in its baseline to 89.5% in the final evaluation, hand washing, from 33.6% to 89.5%, the correct use of the restrooms, from 21% to 65%, likewise, obtained the declaration of communities free of defecation in the open field”.