New Source keylist on Inclusive Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Disability

Source, in collaboration with WaterAid, has produced a new keylist on Inclusive WASH and Disability. The keylist aims to raise awareness on the issue of Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) for people with disabilities, providing access to key documents, tools and resources to support development practitioners, service providers and people with disabilities.

People with disabilities often have limited access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in emergency and development situations. All those responsible for providing WASH services have a key role in reducing attitudinal, institutional and environmental barriers.

Often only minor changes are needed to ensure that people with disabilities can be included in WASH service provision. Specialist skills and knowledge are extremely valuable, but are not always required. Involving people with disabilities in programme design can help to ensure that WASH provision responds to different needs, for example by considering different water and sanitation technology options, using different ways to communicate hygiene messages, or providing additional hygiene training to caretakers. It is much cheaper to ensure designs are inclusive at the planning stage than to make adaptations later. Making WASH programmes more accessible, inclusive and user-friendly benefits everyone in the community, including older people, children, pregnant women and those who are ill.

WASH programmes can also support people with disabilities to claim their rights, by helping to increase their visibility, dignity, self-confidence and active participation in policy and decision-making, often by working closely with disabled peoples’ organisations.