Research on Health and Nutrition:
As per World Health Organization (WHO), the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition” Good health is also clearly determined by other basic human rights including access to safe drinking water and sanitation, nutritious foods, adequate housing, education and safe working conditions (Ghebreyesus, 2017). Nutrition is important to reduce many diseases, maintain a balanced health and reduce different health related risk. Nutrition research measures the access and the quality of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive services, measure the effectiveness of nutritional programmes and quality of services the availability of micronutrient supplies, logistics, client flow, quality of education and counselling, identify community level barriers/biases that limit peoples’ access to nutrition services, understanding of the causes of nutrition deficiencies, obesity and its related comorbidities etc. Nutrition survey often includes consumption of a minimum dietary diversity (MDD), prevalence of anemia in pregnant women, immunization among children etc. Health survey include access to basic health care services, monthly expenditure on health services, Knowledge, Attitude, Behavior and Practice (KABP) of target beneficiaries toward health care facilities. The objective of the study often depends on the target set by clients based on the key indicators mentioned in the project log frame. For nutrition and health survey we use project monitoring and evaluations, baseline, midterm and impact assessments to better understand health, nutrition, women child rights and protection, HIV/AIDS etc. OrQuest has its own pool of experienced consultants who provide extensive support in required studies
Bibliography
Ghebreyesus, D. T. (2017, December 10). Media Center. Retrieved from World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/fundamental-human-right/en/
Research on Food Security:
“Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”. (World Food Summit, 1996)
Three determinants of food security are :
- Food availability
- Food access
- Food utilization
- Measuring Food Availability: There are variety of methods for measuring food security. One of the common method includes household food availability. It combines survey data in different geographical units (such as rural regions and municipalities). In this method, the survey data to estimate welfare or other indicators for disaggregated data and then extrapolated with census data.
- Measuring Food Access: Household food access is measured through food or nutrient intake at the household level. This is usually reported in ‘adult equivalent’ units to facilitate comparison among individuals within a household as well as among households. In these cases the calorie requirement is estimated for different age and sex of the target population. Then information on daily food intake is captured through household expenditure information to capture household expenditure patterns with a focus on food and non-food items, calorie intake, consumption of major food items. The information is used to measure the food access over time by calculating food consumed, regular diet plan and nutrient availability at the household and individual levels.
- Measuring Food Utilization: Food utilization can be measured using food intake data, often can be replaced with research on nutrition. Food intake is evaluated by comparing them with recommended intakes of energy and other nutrients. Nutrient requirements are the levels of particular nutrients in the lowest amount that is necessary to maintain a person in good health. Recommended intakes are the levels of nutrients that are thought to be high enough to meet the needs of all individuals within a similar group. Both the components are measured through household data collection at the household and individual levels.
Research on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH):
WASH is the collective term for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Due to their interdependent nature, these three core issues are grouped together to represent a growing sector. UNICEF has identified 10 areas on which WASH can have a strong impact: diarrhea, nutrition, complementary food hygiene, female psychosocial stress, violence, maternal and newborn health, menstrual hygiene management, school attendance, oral vaccine performance, and neglected tropical diseases.
Not all the projects include all the components of WASH. OrQuest conducts research on project specific baseline, midterm and impact assessment for WASH as per client requirement. Research on water focuses on access to safe water, the quality of the water and the journey they must take to collect it. Sanitation research includes access and use of basic and clean toilets all the time and end the practice of “open defecation.” It also includes disposition of feces of children and people with disability. Finally, hygiene research includes good hygiene practices, especially hand washing with soap or soap substitutes during critical times. The critical time may vary from project to project. Some projects often include management of menstrual hygiene. WASH survey often includes the knowledge and practice of the target respondents.
Customized Research on Rohingya and Host Community:
Before August 25, 2017, there were 307,500 Rohingyas living in refugee camps in Bangladesh. As per UNHCR, as of April 2020, Bangladesh is hosting 860,175 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, following the persecution and subsequent displacement of 730,000 Rohingya Muslims from the Rakhine state of Myanmar in 2017 and previous smaller influxes over time. The refugee influx has put immense pressure on resources and livelihoods for locals in Cox’s Bazar District, where 33% of the population lived below poverty line and 17% below extreme poverty line even before the influx began.
Since the beginning of the refugee influx, under the leadership of the Government of Bangladesh, rapid and effective humanitarian action has saved many lives, met critical needs and protected nearly one million Rohingya refugees while also responding to impacts on affected host communities. Along with the Government of Bangladesh many NGOs and international NGOs have worked to address vital humanitarian needs of both Rohingya refugees and affected host community. They are working on different program interventions jointly or individually covering all humanitarian sectors and addressing key cross-cutting issues. The local and international NGOs along with donor agencies often want to assess the current situation of Rohingya and host community on different program and cross-cutting areas. They also want to measure the impact of their program intervention on the Rohingya and host community. OrQuest has its own pool of resources who have already worked with Rohingya and host community. They have the skill on Chottagonion or Rohingyan language in terms of speaking and listening. OrQuest already has conducted several projects with Rohingya and host community in Cox’s Bazar district.