Abstract
AbstractIn low- and middle-income countries, a common component of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) interventions is the goal of empowerment of beneficiaries, particularly poor households. Empowerment is viewed as an important development goal in itself, as well as a way to obtain improved WASH outcomes. However, empowerment is a complex and multi-dimensional concept, and it is often not clear how it is defined in WASH sector programming. This scoping review explores how concepts of empowerment have been used in the WASH sector and delineates relevant empowerment dimensions. Medline, Embase, and Global Health databases were searched for in the peer-reviewed literature published in English. A total of 13 studies were identified. Five major interrelated empowerment dimensions were identified: access to information, participation, capacity building, leadership and accountability, and decision-making. This review provides researchers and practitioners with a greater understanding of dimensions of empowerment that are relevant for strengthening WASH interventions, as well as tracking progress toward gender and social equality outcomes over time. This understanding can help ensure inclusive WASH service delivery to achieve gender-sensitive Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for universal water and sanitation access.This article has been made Open Access thanks to the generous support of a global network of libraries as part of the Knowledge Unlatched Select initiative.
Highlights
Though water and sanitation are fundamental for promoting good hygiene behavior, health, and well-being, many individuals and communities remain without safe water and sanitation facilities
This review aims to identify key dimensions that could inform the development of tools for evaluating and monitoring empowerment within the WASH sector
This review summarizes the evidence related to empowerment in the WASH sector
Summary
Though water and sanitation are fundamental for promoting good hygiene behavior, health, and well-being, many individuals and communities remain without safe water and sanitation facilities. The WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) reported that 2.1 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water at home and 4.5 billion people do not have access to safely managed sanitation facilities globally (UNICEF ; UNICEF & WHO ). Inadequate access to water has impacts on public health and the mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of individuals and households (Sultana ). Aside from preventable deaths and physical illnesses related to waterborne disease, the lack of access to water and sanitation leads to feelings of anxiety, a sense of embarrassment, and feelings of distress (Wutich ; Harryson et al ).
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