The social and economic development of any country requires strong basic conditions, such as the health and well-being of its population. Hygiene practices are proven to be crucial for health, so any initiative aimed at ensuring those practices are incorporated by communities is incredibly important.

In Madagascar, this has been done successfully over recent years, thanks to partnerships that combined efforts and expertise from organisations and local authorities, with specific focus on educating pupils at schools. In order to assess those actions and the progress they brought about, a study has been produced.

In collaboration with Madagascar’s Ministry of Education, WSUP asked Hydroconseil and GRET to carry out research on the effectiveness of hygiene promotion in schools. The objective of the study was to compare several hygiene promotion approaches in EPPs by assessing their effects on student behaviour.

ESAWAS report Citywide Inclusive Sanitation resources

Effective resource planning and management are required to ensure that mandated entities are sufficiently resourced to be able to fulfil their mandate.

This publication forms part of a series looking at Citywide Inclusive Sanitation in terms of three closely related requirements for achieving safe, inclusive and sustainable urban sanitation: clear responsibility, strong accountability, and fit-for-purpose resource planning and management.

This paper is one of three complementary publications that explain these functions (responsibility, accountability, resource planning and management) in more detail, on the basis of specific case studies.

Click for a shorter version of this paper, which looks at the function of resource planning and management, drawing on a desk review of over 40 urban sanitation investments in twenty-eight countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Accountability mechanisms are required to make sure that mandated responsibilities are fulfilled.

This publication forms part of a series looking at Citywide Inclusive Sanitation in terms of three closely related requirements for achieving safe, inclusive and sustainable urban sanitation: clear responsibility, strong accountability, and fit-for-purpose resource planning and management.

This paper is one of three complementary publications that explain these functions (responsibility, accountability, resource planning and management) in more detail, on the basis of specific case studies.

Click for a shorter version of this paper, where we explore the accountability mechanisms that can be applied to the different service provision mandate structures identified in our parallel paper on responsibilities.

Responsibility defines what entity has a mandate to deliver a service.

This publication forms part of a series looking at Citywide Inclusive Sanitation in terms of three closely related requirements for achieving safe, inclusive and sustainable urban sanitation: clear responsibility, strong accountability, and fit-for-purpose resource planning and management.

This paper is one of three complementary publications that explain these functions (responsibility, accountability, resource planning and management) in more detail, on the basis of specific case studies.

Click for a short version of this paper which looks at the function of responsibility: the extent to which sanitation authorities are clearly mandated.

Shared sanitation has immensely contributed to sanitation access in urban areas, but is at best considered a “limited” solution due to the lack of quality standards within Sustainable Development Goal 6.

This policy brief presents the main results of the QUISS project (Quality Indicators of Shared Sanitation), a three-country comparative mixed-methods study that identified the key criteria of what constitutes “acceptable quality” shared toilets in urban low-income contexts and provides recommendations for strengthening the acceptability, functionality and sustainability of shared sanitation facilities.

Click the button below for overall results.

Country specific policy briefs:

QUISS Policy Brief: Bangladesh

QUISS Policy Brief: Ghana

QUISS Policy Brief: Kenya

Gender inequity at the level of policy, regulation and management limits the voice and participation of women decision-makers and can perpetuate inequities throughout the sanitation sector. To address this, the Urban Sanitation Research Initiative aims to analyse gender inequity in educational and professional settings of sanitation-related organisations.

  • Among staff at sanitation-related public-sector institutions in Kenya, a large majority of both men and women recognise that women have different needs and priorities when it comes to sanitation.
  • Both men and women showed awareness of the needs of women regarding particular attributes of latrines, such as menstrual hygiene management (MHM) facilities or physical safety.
  • A more participatory approach allowed more gendered perspectives and seemed to lead to gender-sensitive programming and policies; an infrastructure-led approach, focusing more on hardware installation and less on participation, led to less gender-sensitive programming and policies.

This research was led by Athena Infonomics; more information about the project and other reports can be found here.

Gender inequity at the level of policy, regulation and management limits the voice and participation of women decision-makers and can perpetuate inequities throughout the sanitation sector. To address this, the Urban Sanitation Research Initiative aims to analyse gender inequity in educational and professional settings of sanitation-related organisations.

  • Women working at sanitation-related public-sector institutions in Kenya reported challenges at work, which limited their professional aspirations, their voice and their influence on policies.
  • Barriers exist at all stages of career development: girls face gender bias in school when pursuing technical degrees; young career-women must balance greater familial obligations than men; and mid-career women lack many of the networking opportunities that men have.
  • Bullying and sexual harassment of women have not been adequately addressed thus far, leaving some women with little support and few alternatives.

It is crucial for the sanitation sector to meet the basic needs of their female staff, such as:

  1. Full access to MHM-friendly latrines at all sites, including waste treatment plants and field sites.
  2. Maternity and paternity leave, flexible scheduling and lactation rooms for new mothers
  3. For young mothers and fathers, create nearby or on-site alternatives to workshops and conferences that require travel. When travel is unavoidable, make arrangements for young mothers to return quickly in an emergency.
  4. Provide PPE that are designed for women, for all jobs that require protective gear.
  5. Create a culture that is intolerant to sexual jokes in professional settings. Create confidential systems that protect victims of sexual harassment, and discourage sexual predators.
  6. Create professional groups, systems and events which allow women to network, mentor and support each other, during hours and in locations that are friendly to women.
  7. Educate managers and staff of the benefits of both gender equity among staff, and equal representation of women and men among management.
  8. Make salary structures and promotion policies transparent and ensure that all employees are considered equally.

This research was led by Athena Infonomics; more information about the project and other reports can be found here.

The Urban Sanitation Research Initiative aims to analyse the internal workings of organisations that make and implement sanitation policy, regulation and services to address four specific questions: (a) the gender balance in decision-making/technical roles in these organisations; (b) how attitudes to sanitation vary between male and female decision-makers; (c) the key barriers to female participation in these roles; (d) provide recommendations for equitable recruitment, placement and career advancement of women.

Across six national and County sanitation-related institutions in Kenya, an average of 37% of top-level staff were women. Corporate leadership roles are particularly unevenly split between genders.

This mapping exercise is part of a wider analysis of attitudes of decision-makers in the sanitation sector in Kenya and the barriers to these roles for women.

This research was led by Athena Infonomics; a summary of a literature review from this project can be found here.

Gender inequity at the level of policy, regulation and management can perpetuate inequities throughout the sanitation sector, limiting the voice and participation of women decision-makers.

A literature review was completed as part of a research project analysing the internal workings of organisations that contribute to and implement sanitation services and policy in Kenya.

Despite evidence that equal gender representation at managerial levels can increase firm performance and the quality of services provided, women are still under-represented in sanitation governance globally and in Kenya.

Numerous barriers to advancement exist at various stages, from a bias against women training in STEM fields to hostile work environments that discourage advancement.

Significant gaps remain in the literature on women working and progressing in sanitation and other technical fields.

The next stage of the research is to assess (a) the gender balance in decision-making/technical roles in these organisations; (b) how attitudes to sanitation vary between male and female decision-makers; (c) and the key barriers to female participation in these roles. This will lead to recommendations for equitable recruitment, placement and career advancement of women.

The full literature review can be accessed here.

This research was led by Athena Infonomics; results from a mapping exercise of sanitation public bodies in Kenya can be found here.

A rapidly growing economy and population are putting a growing strain on the city of Dhaka’s freshwater resource.

This project looks at the attitudes and perceptions of households, industry, government and non-governmental organisations to freshwater pollution in Dhaka. The finding aim to help identify critical areas for investment and improvement and offer policy recommendations for more sustainable urban water management.