Practical Disability-Inclusive WASH Resources

Dear friends and colleagues,

We shared some excellent disability-inclusive WASH resources from our collection to celebrate  International Day of Persons with Disabilities , 3rd December 2021. Eventhough the date has passed we thought it would be good to add them to the SuSanA forum as they are very useful

What is disability-inclusive WASH? For people with disabilities, inclusive WASH means effectively participating in and informing WASH-related research, policy and programme design and implementation. Essentially, disability-inclusive WASH is a process of addressing barriers to WASH which must be monitored, reported on and learned from, with persons with disabilities central to the process. 

Resources featured:

• Disability-Inclusive WASH: a definition by Jane Wilbur et al. (see below)

• COVID-19 Inclusive WASH Checklist

• Compendium of Accessible WASH Technologies

• “I’m scared to talk about it”: exploring experiences of incontinence for
  people with and without disabilities in Vanuatu, using mixed methods

• [font=merriweather sans, helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif] SLH disability-inclusive WASH collection 

• [font=merriweather sans, helvetica neue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif] International Disability Alliance disability-inclusive WASH collection 

Many thanks to Jane Wilbur , International Centre for Evidence in Disability (ICED) LSHTM, for her help in selecting these resources.

We hope these resources are useful to your work. As always your feedback and ideas are very welcomed - please contact us at [email protected] .

Many good wishes,
Elaine

Disability-Inclusive WASH: a definition by Jane Wilbur et al.

"There is no agreed definition of inclusive WASH. We define it as a process which addresses the barriers to accessing and using water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services faced by people who are vulnerable to exclusion, including people with disabilities, older adults, people living with chronic illness, women, girls, transgender and non-binary people.

For people with disabilities, inclusive WASH means effectively participating in and informing WASH-related research, policy and programme design and implementation. All people with disabilities, regardless of their impairment and where appropriate, including their caregivers, can access and understand information provided, which is also made relevant for their specific WASH requirements. Information dispels harmful misconceptions that perpetuate disability discrimination. All people with disabilities can reach water points, latrines and bathing shelters safely. Public and private WASH facilities, including disposal mechanisms for menstrual and incontinence materials, are safe and accessible for everyone to use with dignity. Caregivers are supported to provide WASH-related care that promotes the self-respect, dignity and autonomy of the person with a disability.

WASH related policies and guiding documents include activities and indicators that support the progressive realisation of the right to water and sanitation for people with disabilities. Service providers understand policy commitments and are supported to realise them. Progress and exclusion are monitored and reported on, with persons with disabilities central to the process."
( Jane Wilbur et al. (2021)

Elaine Mercer
Communications and Networking Officer
The Sanitation Learning Hub
The Institute of Development Studies
sanitationlearninghub.org/