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.
Inequalities
Hybrid water rights systems for pro-poor water governance in Africa
This study, based in Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, explores the implications of permit systems for both the most vulnerable and the state, and, identifies options for pro-poor water legislation that also meet the water governance requirements of the state.
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.
Examining the economics of affordability through water diaries in Coastal Bangladesh
Monitoring affordability of drinking water services is constrained by data gaps from traditional approaches that rely on cross-sectional data from infrequent, nationally representative surveys. This research present findings from an 18-week water diary study that documented daily water choices and expenditures of a stratified sample of 120 households in coastal Bangladesh.
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.
Best practice guide: developing inclusive conferences
This document is a practical ‘how-to’ guide to help conference organisers promote diversity of attendance and inclusivity of participation at events.
A social-ecological analysis of drinking water risks in coastal Bangladesh
Groundwater resources in deltaic regions are vulnerable to contamination by saline seawater, posing significant crisis for drinking water. In this paper, the authors use a social-ecological systems approach to evaluate the risks to drinking water security in one of 139 polders in coastal Bangladesh.
Empowerment and water among pastoralist women in Norther Kenya
This policy brief presents key findings and recommendations from a REACH Catalyst Grant study exploring questions around women, water and gendered power relations in Maasai and Samburu counties in Northern Kenya. The study was led by the Centre for Humanitarian Change.
On considering climate resilience in urban water security: A review of the vulnerability of the urban poor in sub-Saharan Africa
This paper reviews literature on the vulnerability of the urban poor to floods, droughts, and cholera in Sub-Saharan Africa. It highlights the structural challenges and systemic inequalities that are increasing the vulnerability of the urban poor including the differential experiences of women and children.
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.
