Inclusive WASH and disability

"This factsheet sets out to explain the connection between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and HIV and AIDS, and provides recommendations on how HIV interventions can integrate WASH into their programming"

This website provides a free learning portal for WASH practitioners and researchers.  It contains useful case studies, webinars, a reference library, archived forums and updated news items

This report presents the findings of a desk study that provided an overview of the current state of disability and ageing issues in WASH, from the perspective of the WASH sector. Both disabled and older people were looked at together, because many frail older people, although they may reject the label ‘disabled’, experience impairments that limit their daily activities, which result in them facing similar kinds of barriers to accessing WASH

This database provides water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and inclusion papers presented at WEDC conferences.  Topics include inclusive sanitation, urban sanitation, school WASH, emergency sanitation and community led total sanitation in low-income countries

This book presents the discussion and analysis of existing practices in how rights to water and sanitation should be implemented to inspire policy- and decision makers, practitioners, activists and civil society in general to engage with the rights to water and sanitation to assist in the process of ensuring that everyone has access to safe drinking water and sanitation services for all daily personal and domestic purposes.

The practices were taken from submissions, consultations and meetings with a range of actors and have been organised into four main types: State actions and the legal and institutional frameworks that promote the realisation of the rights to water and sanitation; financing for the sector; non-State stakeholder practices to promote and protect the rights to water and sanitation; and practices that demonstrate how States and other actors can be held accountable through the monitoring of  water and sanitation services

This document presents the link between stigma and the human rights framework as it relates to water and sanitation. The report outlines that stigma, as a deeply entrenched social and cultural phenomenon, lies at the root of many human rights violations and results in entire population groups being disadvantaged and excluded. The link between stigma and explicitly water, sanitation and hygiene is detailed, and stigma is then placed within the human rights framework considering human dignity, the human rights to water, sanitation, non-discrimination and equality, the prohibition of degrading treatment and the right to privacy. The report acknowledges that States cannot fully realise the human rights to water and sanitation without addressing stigma as a root cause of discrimination and other human rights violations

A/HRC/21/42

This issue of Frontiers of CTLS (Community led total sanitation) focuses on “people with disabilities and particular needs for access to sanitation. There are many forms of disability, including mobility impairments, sensory impairments (affecting sight or hearing), chronic illness, impairments caused by older age or mental health issues.  People affected tend not to be present at triggering, to lack voice in the community, to have their needs overlooked, and may even be hidden by their families. This issue outlines the reality of the experiences of disabled people, the varied nature of their needs and how they can be met. It includes practical recommendations for people engaged in CLTS to make the different phases and processes of CLTS more inclusive”

Frontiers of CLTS : innovations and insights, Issue 03

A video and presentation is also available

This online toolkit is intended to help water, sanitation and hygiene services (WASH) and associated practitioners better recognise the risks of violence linked to WASH and to encourage WASH practitioners to recognise their capacity to make WASH safer and more effective. It has been developed in response to an acknowledgement that although the lack of access to WASH is not the root cause of violence, it can lead to increased vulnerabilities to violence of varying forms.

The key toolkit documents are the four briefing notes and the associated checklists, however other materials in the toolsets, such as case studies, checklists, videos, training scenarios etc., are available and may be drawn on as required. This toolkit has been developed for use by WASH practitioners but will also be useful for gender based violence (GBV), gender, protection, health and education specialists working for organisations and governments that are providing access to these essential services, to help them better identify and acknowledge these risks and contribute to their reduction in practical ways.

Note: Documents in the toolkit can be opened or downloaded from the online links. The entire toolkit (except the videos) can be downloaded from the download options page. Once downloaded, hyperlinks will operate if the folders and documents remain in their existing positions.

This database search presents a wide range of materials related school WASH including reports, papers, case studies, conference materials, training materials and posters

This manual provides guidance on the design and building of barrier-free emergency shelters that are used by all people within a community following a natural disaster, such as a flood or landslide. It provides information with examples of the essential aspects to consider when designing and building barrier-free emergency shelters, such as ramps, toilets, cooking areas, waterpumps and shelters. Recommendations are also highlighted to ensure accessible environments for people with specific disabilities. The information for this manual is based upon a 'Mainstreaming disability and people with disabilities into disaster management in Nepal' project, which was implemented by Handicap International in December 2007. This manual is useful for people interested in the design and building of barrier-free emergency shelters

Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is a revolutionary approach in which communities are facilitated to conduct their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation and take their own action to become open defecation-free. This report presents CLTS approaches in six countries which differ organisationally with contrasting combinations of NGOs, projects and governments. Practical elements in strategies for going to scale have included: training and facilitating; starting in favourable conditions; conducting campaigns and encouraging competition; recruiting and committing teams and full-time facilitators and trainers; organising workshops and cross-visits; supporting and sponsoring Natural Leaders and community consultants and inspiring and empowering children

Practice Paper, Vol 2009, No 1

This paper provides information about an awareness-builidng programme from WaterAid Bangladesh focusing on the issue of menstrual hygiene. It highlights the incorporation of menstrual awareness and management in sanitation and hygiene programmes. This paper is useful for people interested in menstrual hygiene issues

This report is a synthesis of three individual country studies on Community-led Total Sanitation (CLTS) activities in WaterAid programmes in Bangladesh, Nepal and Nigeria. The studies examined whether CLTS had led to sustainable and equitable sanitation behaviour change. The study explored whether achieving open-defecation-free (ODF) status is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the entire community to use and maintain hygienic latrines in the long-term. Also, where possible, the study explored the additional factors that enhance the probability that ODF status will translate into entrenched behaviour change, as well as the capacity of communities to move onwards up the ‘sanitation ladder’

"This paper provides an overview of research aimed at understanding the barriers and opportunities that disabled and older persons with additional access requirements may face using standard WASH facilities...and provides an overview of the preliminary baseline data findings"

336th WEDC International Conference

Nakuru, Kenya

1-5 July 2013

Briefing paper 1803