Building skills towards inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene

Resource Library for People with Disabilities

Web Resources

Inclusive WASH and Disability – AskSource

More than 60 papers, manuals, case studies, guidelines and general resources on disability inclusive development and WASH. This key list has been produced in partnership with WaterAid and builds on the Dewpoint study carried out by Ms Hazel Jones of the Water, Engineering and Development Centre (WEDC) at Loughborough University. The website is updated periodically and managed by Handicap International.

Literature Items

Tan, K.S., Normal, W.R., Knepper, S. & Kamban, N. (2013). 36th WEDC International Conference, Nakuru, Kenya. This study looks at the scope of disability in West Africa and the issues and constraints such disability presents for WASH accessibility and related initiatives. The resource provides guidelines to increasing inclusiveness and equitability of policy, guidelines, infrastructure and technology design within the WASH sector for people living with physical disability.

Keo, C., Bouhours, T. & Bouhours, B. (2014). WaterAid and Australian Red Cross. This updated version of the 2006 document reports on work done and progress made towards increasing inclusivity of WASH for people living with disabilities in Cambodia, and what remains to be done. It identifies the types of approaches used, their strengths and limitations, and presents recommendations, priorities and directions for future.

Singh, R., Honda, H., Frost, B., Urich, K. (2014). World Vision International.This paper presents research carried out by World Vision International to better evaluate and understand approaches and best practices to disability inclusive WASH. Key findings, good practices, and recommendations are addressed around the following areas: awareness, policy implementation, cost, partnership and collaboration, tools and capacity building, and participation of persons with disabilities.

Jones, H. & Reed, B. (2005). From the publication Water and Sanitation for Disabled people and other vulnerable groups, WEDC. The main focus of this chapter is on facilities for families in rural and peri-urban areas of low- and middle-income countries. However, many of the approaches and solutions may also be applied in institutional settings, such as schools and hospitals and in emergency situations. The remaining chapters can be dowloaded from the WEDC Knowledge Base.

Jones, H. & Reed, B. (2005). Water and sanitation for disabled people and other vulnerable groups, WEDC. The case studies in this chapter focus on facilities for families in rural and peri-urban areas of low- and middle-income countries, but many of the approaches and solutions may also be applied in institutional settings. Where appropriate the limitations within the case studies have been identified, and improvements suggested that would make them more suitable for a wider range of users.

Fawzi, A. & Jones H. (2010). WaterAid, London, UK. This research paper looks at the effectiveness of methods used within CLTS programs to ensure the most vulnerable people within a community are involved in and benefit from CLTS programs, increasing inclusiveness and equitability. Making reference to the implementation of CLTS in Bangladesh rural communities to improve inclusiveness of latrine facilities, it presents interesting discussion and conclusion on inclusive WASH, including strengths an

Jones, H. & Wilbur, J. (2014). This compendium provides practical guidance for practitioners working directly within communities to overcome barriers to WASH accessibility within the household. The resource is sectioned into six areas: hand washing, water points, bathing, latrines, and further resources. It includes in-depth guidelines and graphics to accompany solutions, and a rubric that indicates solution advantages, disadvantages, improvements/variations, and cost/labour.

WaterAid Nepal (2008). Discussion Paper. This paper reviews the social, technical, financial and policy barriers to meeting the water and sanitation needs of those living with disability in Nepal.

Reed, B. & Coates, S. (2007). This activity is designed to engage people in discussion of technical issues to increase inclusion in design and suitability of infrastructure.

Disability and WASH ( 124.66 KB )

Nayek, M. (2013). WaterAid Bangladesh, United Nations General Assembly flyer 2013.

Wilbur, J & Jones, H. (2014). CLTS: Innovations and Insights Issue 3, Brighton: IDS. This handbook focuses on barriers to WASH accessibility for people with disability, providing tools, guidance and solutions to planning and implementing CLTS programs that overcome barriers. It provides practical examples accompanied by photos, and looks at influencing CLTS for the disabled at all levels of governance to broaden engagement of stakeholders, and effectiveness of initiatives.

WaterAid Ethiopia (2006). Briefing note. This research piece investigate the experiences and coping mechanism of people with motor disabilities in accessing water and sanitation facilities in Butajira town and its surroundings, located in SNNPR. It offers suggestions for meeting their needs through improved design of water and sanitation facilities as well as through addressing social stigma in the community

WaterAid Timor-Leste (2011). This issue sheet sets out the barriers that people with disabilities face in accessing water and sanitation, and how they can be overcome. It aims to set out the issues in simple terms, and gives examples of small, low-cost and easy things that make a big difference.

Handicap International France (2008). Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This resource forms the first part of a two-part manual that looks at access to water and sanitation facilities for disabled peoples, focusing specifically on toilets and closed showers.

Handicap International France (2008). Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This resource is the second part of a two-part manual that looks at access to water and sanitation facilities for disabled peoples, focusing specifically on open washing area and water points.

Handicap International France (2008). Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This manual is the last of a series of three. It provides highly technical guidance on how to build infrastructure in developing countries to ensure facilities are highly accessible for people with disabilities.

CABE (2008). London, UK. This resource discusses the positive impact inclusive design within a society can have on improving environmental accessibility, particularly among the poorest and most marginalised segment of it’s population by creating more inclusive, cohesive and equal societies. CABE puts-forth five over arching priority areas to ensure inclusive design within communities, as well as five priority areas to be used by professionals and local authorities.

Christoffel Blinden Mission (2012). This is a brief, introductory guide to mainstreaming disability into international development programs. It is a starting point to assist development practitioners to recognise and understand the relevant disability related issues in any given program context. Links to more detailed resources are provided throughout this guide.

WaterAid UK (2013). Looking at the incorporation of disability and ageing issues into WASH programs, this study presents a ‘mainstreaming continuum’ as a contractual frameworks to show the different stages organisations go through: from pilot studies and projects, to capacity building and guidelines, to a state in which disability and ageing are fully considered in all work. These stages can be used to acknowledge achievements, build on progress, and determine how to move to the next stage.

WHO (2008). World Health Organization: Geneva. This report was developed in response to the 2002 United Nations Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MUPAA) which recommended greater recognition and enhancement of the positive contribution made by older persons during emergency situations. Based on the examination of case studies in both developed and developing countries, the report contributes real-life experiences to inform policy and practice makers.

Jone, H. (2011). The slides that accompanied the first disability webinar, led by Hazel Jones, as a part of a webinar series on the Inclusive WASH website. It introduces the concepts and principles of accessible and inclusive WASH, highlighting hardware/software issues and the difference between household level and communal facilities, illustrated by images of practical examples. The recording to accompany the slides is accessible via the webinar/disability tab.

Hanley, C. (2011). These slides accompanied the second webinar in the Disability and WASH session, led by Clare Hanley from CBM Australia, and held on the Inclusive WASH website. Clare builds on Hazel’s presentation and presents in-depth practical examples of 3 different approaches to disability inclusive WASH programs from 3 case studies. The audio recording for this webinar can be found via the webinar/disability tab.

WaterAid Madagascar (2010). This technical manual provides design solutions to making public WASH facilities accessible. Designed to be used in developing countries, the solutions are based on modifications to exisiting public facilities, including community water points, hand washing devices and school and institutional latrine shower blocks. The document also highlights areas where additional research on accessibility limitations would be beneficial.

Design Kit (2015). This resource is a creative approach to addressing problems within a community, where the development of problem solutions is largely done by those within the community facing the problem. This ensures solutions are effective in addressing their specific needs. The resource reveals [our] process with the key mindsets that underpin how and why we think about design for the social sector, 57 clear-to-use design methods for new and experienced practitioners, and case studies.

Coe, S. & Waling, L. (2010). World Vision UK. This resource provides training activities, handouts, case studies, as well as additional resources to help ensure the needs of disabled children and adults are included within development programs to bring about positive change for this often marginalised group.

Wilbur, J. & Danquah, L. (2015). 38TH WEDC International Conference, Loughborough University, UK. This research aims to understand and address the barriers that disabled, older and chronically ill people face when accessing WASH in Zambia and Uganda.

Wilbur, J., Jones, H., Gosling, L., Groce, N. & Challenger, E. (2013). 336th WEDC International Conferene, Nakuru, Kenya. This research aims to understand the barriers to opportunities that disabled and older persons with additional access requirement may face using standard WASH facilities.

Jone, H. & Reed, B. (2006). WEDC Loughorough University. This interim report brings together lessons from dissemination activities held in Cambodia that were held as follow up from the research and report by WEDC on strengthening WASH service design to increase accessibility for people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.

Normal, R. (2010). Messiah College. This report provides a summary of activities and findings from a three-year study (2007-2009) that examined issues of access to and use of clean water and sanitation for people with disabilities within specific communities in the West Africa Initiative (WAWI). The WAWI is a partnership of 13 international organisations that seek to improve the well-being of rural communities by providing access to WASH. Practitioners can use this report as an informative and p

WaterAid (2011). This report gives an overview of the information relevant to the WASH sector in the world’s first report on disability. It also highlights how WaterAid is addressing the recommendations in the report, as well as where the organisation could develop their approaches further.

WaterAid (2011). Briefing note. This briefing note gives an overview of the report ‘What the Global Report on Disability means for the WASH sector’. It includes a summary of the information relevant to the WASH sector in the world’s first report on disability. It also summarises how WaterAid is addressing the recommendations in the report, as well as how they could develop their approaches further.

Briefing notes

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