Application of mobile technology in monitoring and evaluation of household water security for Dhaka city

Abstract

This research introduces a methodology to calculate household water security (HWS) using data on access to piped water supply, access to improved sanitation, and access to improved hygiene indicators collected from the biggest slum of Dhaka city ‘Korail.’ Korail slum being the home of 2, 00,000 people, has 'Hazardous' level of household water security. Many Ngo's have been working in this slum to change people's fate, but residents of this slum often struggle to reach the basic level of water, sanitation, and hygiene. This scenario is hard to change if the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of household water security is not strengthened. Mobile technology offers an excellent opportunity to be used in M&E of HWS of Korail slum as mobile technology is no longer a luxury item to these people rather a daily commodity. This research calculates the HWS level of Korail slum, presents the existing mobile use scenario by the slum dwellers, explores the possibility of applying mobile technology in M&E of HWS, and develops a framework on the application of mobile technology in monitoring and evaluation of HWS of Dhaka city. For conducting the research, the case study method has been followed. The systematic review method was applied to analyze the secondary data on the water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions of Korail slum, which were collected by analyzing archival records. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted among the residents of Korail slum to collect data on the existing pattern of mobile technology use by the residents and understand the scope of utilizing mobile technology in monitoring and evaluation of HWS.