Evidencing gender equality & social inclusion in WASH systems

Published on: 09/12/2024

The blog has been co-authored by Ruchika Shiva (IRC) and Ruth Sylvester (University of Leeds) 

water_bowl_with_soap.jpg

Water bowl with soap

In recent years, global WASH monitoring has increasingly focused on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI). In 2020, the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) identified key gendered dimensions of WASH, improving indicators used to measure gender equality and efforts to gather disaggregated data.

The labour of water carrying is a key dimension of gender equality. In low-income countries, water is less likely to be available on premises, and as such it must be carried from source to home. Women and adolescent girls are often responsible for carrying water in many low-income countries and spend more time on average doing so. In fewer countries, such as Mongolia and Algeria, men are responsible for carrying water. Another important gendered dimension is safety and freedom from violence. In households with shared sanitation, women are less likely to feel very safe and more likely to feel very unsafe walking alone after dark. For example, in Georgia, 85% of men but only 47% of women said that they felt ‘very safe’ doing so (see JMP 2023).

Globally, 2 billion people lack access to a handwashing facility with soap at home. Women and girls are likely to be disproportionately affected by the lack of handwashing facilities, as studies have found that they are, on average, more likely to wash their hands than men. This likelihood is partly related to different needs around maintaining personal hygiene, and partly related to different roles and responsibilities, such as domestic work and childcare.

Most women and girls have specific WASH needs for menstrual health. There is less global monitoring data on menstrual health, but an important aspect is the availability of materials. In many countries, reusable materials are commonly used, particularly in rural areas, which necessitates access to a handwashing facility, as well as a private area for drying.  In eight countries, less than half the adolescent girls and women who use reusable materials have a handwashing facility with soap and water available at home. For adolescent girls, 33% of schools globally lack basic hand hygiene, 22% lack basic sanitation, and 23% lack basic water supply (see JMP 2024). This creates significant challenges for menstrual health for adolescents, as well as sociocultural stigmas and taboos which occur commonly around the world in high-, middle- and low-income countries.

Multiple social factors can combine to exclude certain people from WASH access. For example, adolescent girls and women aged 15-19, living in rural areas, in the poorest quintile, and living with disabilities are less likely to meet the criteria for menstrual health indicators. Additionally, many countries have policies in place to extend WASH for those at risk of being socially excluded, however, fewer allocate resources or monitor progress. Groups identified as being at risk of exclusion include people living in poverty; people living with disabilities; elderly people; ethnic or religious minorities; indigenous populations; internally displaced persons or refugees; those living in slums or informal settlements; those displaced or affected by emergencies or natural disasters; and those living in remote or hard-to-reach areas.

Monitoring WASH services to these populations can be challenging, but there is some data available for certain groups. For example, most countries report having plans for assisting people living in poverty, yet only a minority have established affordability targets for water and sanitation. Further, participation and representation are two key indicators for equality. On average, women hold only 18% of jobs in water utilities, and they are also a minority in government WASH jobs. In addition, less than a third of countries report having high participation of women in rural water supply management (see UN Water 2022).

Overall, although incomplete, the global evidence base clearly shows that gendered and social exclusion from WASH is commonplace. Most data focus on end users, and on women and adolescent girls, however, there are many groups of people living with multiple forms of exclusion. Limited data shows that women are also underrepresented in participation and representation in the governance and management of WASH systems. Increasing the evidence base is critical for supporting sustained efforts to strengthen inclusive WASH systems.

This blog is published under the WASH systems for health project focusing on gender equality and social inclusion. More publications on this topic will follow.