Changing behaviours and driving inclusive sanitation services to serve all in rural areas.
Leaving no one behind in rural sanitation can be achieved through improved behaviour change strategies, district-wide processes, gender and inclusion strategies, entrepreneurship to build a vibrant private sector and new thinking to address climate change.
Our work is at the leading edge in these areas, bringing new ideas and providing analytical rigour to evaluate current approaches.
PROJECT | 2020-2022
Rural sanitation and climate change: Putting ideas into practice
UTS-ISF and the Sanitation Learning Hub partnered to provide guidance on how communities can be supported to understand impacts of climate change on rural sanitation and what can be done to support climate resilient rural sanitation. A Frontiers of Sanitation issue outlines actionable ideas for addressing climate change in rural sanitation programming that are being tested in Lao PDR, Bangladesh and Burkina Faso.
Location: Lao PDR, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso
Client: Institute of Development Studies
Researchers: Jeremy Kohlitz, Avni Kumar, Juliet Willetts
PROJECT | 2021-2022
Rural sanitation and climate change case studies
UTS-ISF and the Sanitation Learning Hub are producing a series of case studies that document how considerations of climate risk can be integrated into CLTS using the SNV Laos program as a case study, and how climate variability and extreme events affect rural sanitation in communities in Bangladesh and Burkina Faso.
Location: Lao PDR, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso
Clients: Institute for Development Studies
Researchers: Jeremy Kohlitz, Juliet Willetts, Avni Kumar
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Mainstreaming climate risks into rural sanitation programming in Lao PDR (2022) (Learning Brief)
Rural sanitation in a changing climate: Reflections and case studies (2023) (Learning Brief)
Impact of Climate Hazards on Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Practices in Burkina Faso (2023) (Learning Brief)
A Participatory Assessment for Climate-Induced WASH Vulnerabilities in Bangladesh (2023) (Brief)
PROJECT | 2018-2022
Inclusive, climate-responsive rural sanitation
ISF is the research and learning partner for SNV Netherlands Development Organisation’s 'Beyond the Finish Line' program (2018–2022), which is part of DFAT’s Water for Women Fund.
Beyond the Finish Line seeks to achieve equitable and universal access to safely managed sanitation and hygiene in seven districts in Bhutan and Laos, and to strengthen the sustainability and resilience of rural water supply services in two districts in Nepal.
In Bhutan, ISF and SNV are engaging local government on the human right to sanitation and developing strategies to strengthen women’s leadership in WASH. In Laos, our partnership supports integration of climate resilience principles in rural sanitation programs in flood-prone areas.
Location: Bhutan, Laos, Nepal
Client: SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
PROJECT | 2018-2019
Support mechanisms to strengthen equality and non-discrimination in rural sanitation
Community-led total sanitation (CLTS) has had great success in improving latrine coverage in rural areas worldwide, but concerns have been raised about potential inequalities in outcomes. Disadvantaged groups often are the first to revert back to open defecation or are inadequately reached by CLTS processes. Support mechanisms, when designed appropriately and used at the right times, can help to ensure no one is left behind.
ISF was asked by the Institute for Development Studies to examine the problem and include our findings in an issue of the CLTS Knowledge Hub publication, Frontiers of Community Led Total Sanitation.
Our research reviewed the potential of support mechanisms to produce more equitable outcomes for CLTS and considered implications for the wider rural sanitation sector.
Location: Asia, Pacific, Africa
Client: Institute for Development Studies
Wider program: Frontiers of CLTS
Researchers: Jeremy Kohlitz, Juliet Willetts, Naomi Carrard
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Frontiers Number 13: Support mechanisms to strengthen equality and non-discrimination (EQND) in rural sanitation (Part 2 of 2) (2019) (Report)
Frontiers of CLTS: Support Mechanisms for Rural Sanitation Programmes (2019) (Presentation)
Frontiers of CLTS: Support Mechanisms for Rural Sanitation Programmes (2019) (Webinar)
PROJECT | 2013-2015
Sanitation and hygiene for all: a comparative study of approaches to leaving no one behind across five countries
ISF researchers reviewed SNV Netherlands Development Organisation’s experience of striving to reach all through the Sustainable Sanitation and Hygiene for All (SSH4A) program in rural areas across five of 11 implementation countries: Bhutan, Nepal, Cambodia, Zambia and Tanzania.
The breadth of SNV's approaches to understanding potential disadvantage, as well as strategies used to ensure inclusive uptake and use of sanitation services, was investigated.
Location: Bhutan, Nepal, Zambia, Tanzania, Cambodia
Client: SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
Researchers: Naomi Carrard, Juliet Willetts
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Sanitation for all: A comparative study of approaches to leaving no one behind across five countries (2018) (Report)
Sanitation for all: A comparative study of approaches to leaving no one behind across five countries (2018) (Report Summary)
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PROJECT | 2018-2021
Climate change response for inclusive WASH
Supports civil society organisations to assess climate change impacts to improve the service, gender and social inclusion outcomes of WASH programs.
PROJECT | 2016-2017
Pro-poor sanitation evaluation: Bantaey Meas, Cambodia
ISF reviewed SNV Netherlands Development Organisation’s pilot pro-poor support mechanism in Banteay Meas District in Cambodia, which is part of their broader Sustainable Sanitation and Hygiene for All program.
The evaluation examined the effectiveness of the pilot pro-poor support mechanism in enabling increased uptake of improved sanitation among poor households, as well as the strengths and key enabling factors of the mechanism.
Location: Cambodia
Client: SNV Netherlands Development Organisation
Wider program: Sustainable Sanitation and Hygiene for All (SSH4A)
Researchers: Janina Murta, Juliet Willetts, Keren Winterford
RESEARCH OUTPUTS
Piloting pro poor-support strategies in Banteay Meas district Cambodia (2017) (Report Summary)
PROJECT | 2013
Supporting the poor to access sanitation in Bokeo, Laos
The past decade has seen international debate about effective ways to increase access to sanitation, which is considered a basic human right and essential service to support public health.
Within Laos, a similar debate continues, with a history of provision of hardware subsidies through public or non-governmental organisation funding, and a recent shift towards demand-driven approaches to motivate household investment and market support, to enable more efficient, affordable supply of sanitation products.
This is particularly important in areas such as Bokeo Province, Laos, where remote communities have limited access to the commercial sector.
This research examined strategies to ensure that the poorest members of rural communities in the province of Bokeo were supported to gain access to sanitation through a 'smart' subsidies approach.
Location: Laos PDR
Client: Plan International Australia
Partner: Plan International
Researcher: Juliet Willetts
