The Inclusion of Rights of People with Disabilities and Women and Girls in WASH in Policy & Programs

Text reading "inclusion of right of people with disabilities"

This research project, a collaboration between WaterAid and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to help improve disability-inclusive and gender-sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) policy making in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) through policy and practice guidance for governments. The overarching research question was:

How can national WASH policies more effectively address the requirements of people with disabilities and their caregivers?

Abstract

People with disabilities, and women and girls face barriers to accessing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and facilities that fully meet their needs, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Women and girls with disabilities experience double discrimination. WASH policies should support and uphold the concepts of disability and gender inclusion, and they should also act as a guide to inform WASH programs and service delivery.

Using a modified version of the EquiFrame content analysis tool, Water for Women partners London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and WaterAid investigated the inclusion of 21 core concepts of human rights of people with disabilities and women and girls in 16 WASH policy documents and seven end-line program reports from Bangladesh and Cambodia. Included documents typically focused on issues of accessibility and neglected wider issues, including empowerment and support for caregivers. The rights of children and women with disabilities were scarcely focused on specifically, despite their individual needs, and there was a disconnect in the translation of certain rights from policy to practice.

Read now to learn more about this important area of work.

Read now

Scherer, N.; Mactaggart, I.; Huggett, C.; Pheng, P.; Rahman, M.-u.; Biran, A.; Wilbur, J

This resource of one of several excellent resources produced during this research project, you can find many more on WaterAid's WASHmatters website:

Translating disability inclusive WASH policies into practice: lessons from Cambodia and Bangladesh

Policy and strategy

Knowledge and Learning is central to Water for Women. It is a key priority of all partners and positions the Fund as an important contributor to global knowledge development and sharing in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. Fund generated evidence, centred on innovative, climate-resilient and gender and socially inclusive WASH, supports partners to program for long-term impact. It also provides the basis to influence sector-wide development policy and practice globally, particularly around these cross-cutting themes.

Continual reflection, collaborative learning, knowledge development and exchange are important elements of Water for Women, which combined with effective programming, support partners to lead practice globally and raise the bar on climate-resilient, gender and socially inclusive WASH research, analysis, design and program delivery.

In the first phase of Water for Women (2018-2022), our civil society organisation and research partners developed and shared a wealth of resources through their projects. You can explore a selection of these resource highlights here, and how they link to the building blocks for climate-resilient WASH, drawn from our report, Knowledge and Practice Gaps in Climate Resilient Inclusive WASH.