This REACH Story of Change presents the development of the Empowerment in WASH Index (EWI), a novel survey-based tool to measure agency, voice and empowerment in a WASH context. The EWI has been used in six countries to assess and evaluate women’s empowerment, showing its potential to inform policy and practice in the WASH sector by providing more robust evidence on how to integrate gender into intervention design, monitoring and evaluation.
Burkina Faso
Performance and prospects of rural drinking water services in francophone West Africa
This study looks at the evolution of rural water supply policies in francophone West Africa and the performance of the delegation of rural water services. In many countries there is a gap between theory and practice, with alternative models for rural water services delivery co-existing with informal arrangements, where services should have been delegated.
Incentivizing clean water collection during rainfall to reduce disease in rural sub-Saharan Africa with weather dependent pricing
This article proposes a new pricing mechanism for ‘water ATMs’, made possible with pre-payment and remote sensing, where prices adjust during rainy seasons to incentivise the continued use of clean water sources. The authors estimate cost per capita and cost per disability-adjusted life year averted, resulting in values which compare favourably with other water quality interventions.
Global prospects to deliver safe drinking water services for 100 million rural people by 2030
This report documents a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers from 68 countries.
Women’s vulnerability to climate-related risks to household water security in Centre-East, Burkina Faso
This study assesses how vulnerabilities to climate-related risks to household water security are produced and vary among women in the Centre-East region, Burkina Faso, as well as their capacities to respond.
Empowerment in water, sanitation and hygiene index
The Empowerment in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Index (EWI) is a novel survey-based index designed to measure agency, participation and empowerment in the water and sanitation sector. This study reports on the methodological approach and data from a pilot study in Burkina Faso.
Rethinking the economics of rural water in Africa
Rural Africa lags behind global progress to provide safe drinking water to everyone. This paper explores why rural water is different for communities, schools, and healthcare facilities across characteristics of scale, institutions, demand, and finance.
Concept mapping: Engaging stakeholders to identify factors that contribute to empowerment in the water and sanitation sector in West Africa
This study used concept mapping to uncover the meaning and key dimensions of empowerment in WASH among stakeholders in Ghana and Burkina Faso. The study was part of initial steps toward choosing indicators for developing an Empowerment in WASH Index.
Empowerment in WASH Index
This brief presents the Empowerment in WASH Index (EWI), a new tool for measuring empowerment in the water, sanitation and health sector, and shows how it has been applied in Burkina Faso.
Emerging themes on considering water equity
This research brief presents key insights from 23 REACH studies that included exploration of differentiated (particularly gender-driven) experiences, practices and needs related to water.
