The Sanitation Workers Knowledge + Learning Hub is the best source for all current news, trends, articles and updates on sanitation workers rights around the world.
The integration of gender equality and inclusion within water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service provision is critical to ensuring sustained and equitable access. Efforts to integrate gender considerations in the WASH sector have evolved from an instrumental approach towards a more transformational approach that supports dual outcomes in WASH and in gender equality more broadly. This report …
The WASH for Health approach presents significant opportunities for advancing not only SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) and SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) through improving public health outcomes, including WASH in infectious disease control, health system strengthening, and sexual and reproductive health and rights. Adopting the One Health approach provides a broader perspective, …
The SuSanA Secretariat hosted the Second virtual Water Women’s Day on Tuesday, 26 September in collaboration with the Community of Women in Water, Women in Water & Sanitation Network, African Women Sanitation Professionals Network, SIWI’s Women in Water Diplomacy Network in the Nile and Central Asia & Afghanistan, African Water and Sanitation Association, Rural Water Supply Network, Women for …
This study was conducted in the pastoral community of Musenke Sub-Location in Kajiado County (Kenya).
The purpose of this study was to carefully identify root causes of gender-based violence (GBV) and closely associated themes, the extent of harm and level of response. Additionally, the study aimed to understand the community’s cultural practices, economic status and willingness to accept and …
German-supported projects in Nepal, Albania and the Philippines are involving local social media influencers and celebrities to break down taboos around menstrual health and hygiene. To great effect! GIZ’s short film ‘Tackling Taboos’ has been nominated for the WHO film festival ‘Health for all’. Shortlisted out of more than 1000 entries, the film is in the final 70 — and the only one …
The purpose of this resource package is to assist World Bank task teams in ensuring that their projects are inclusive and responsive to the needs of women and girls. The tools included in this package are practical and user-friendly and guide task teams on how to design and monitor effective, inclusive, and sustainable menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) initiatives as part of their water supply, …
The 4th edition of a comprehensive compilation of menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) resources provides an overview and categorization of the key resources available to date. This publication brings together a wealth of resources, including research, case studies, project examples, and informational materials for everyone interested in MHH.
Its main purpose is to offer individuals and …
The biological process of menstruation affects around a quarter of the world's population. Nevertheless, it is surrounded by secrecy and taboos, and encompasses various sociocultural and structural challenges. These and their impacts negatively affect the lives of menstruators restricting their freedom, choices, participation, and mobility. The concept of Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH) aims …
"Follow your heart!" How a Bollywood star is empowering Nepalese women and winning our hearts in the process
Keki Adhikari is a Nepalese superstar with 1.3 million followers. Join us as we celebrate the power of change, which is only accepted when it reaches the heart. Keki talks about taboo subjects such as menstruation and forced marriage, slowly but surely changing women's rights in Nepali …
“Achieving menstrual health requires access to information about the menstrual cycle and self-care, materials, water and sanitation facilities and services to care for the body during menstruation, access to timely diagnosis, care and treatment for menstrual discomforts and disorders, a positive and respectful environment free from stigma, and the freedom to participate in all spheres of life …
In the aftermath of Cyclone Fani, villages in Odisha were affected with a wide variety of challenges including increased open defecation, damage to toilets and latrines, the loss of key hygiene items, and the contamination of drinking water. The UNICEF WASH team in Odisha held participatory discussions with community members in 20 villages, including Badabenakudi, which revealed that there was an …
Menstrual Health & Hygiene Management (MHH) is a topic of concern for health, education, human rights, water, and sanitation sector. In Pakistan, more than 42 million (roughly 22%) girls aged between 10 to 19 years are at menstruation age1. Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children with an estimated 22.8 million children, of which the majority are girls. The net …
Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) relates to how girls and women manage their monthly menstruation and require access to information about menstruation, clean and safe menstrual absorbents, amenities, and facilities such as toilets and water, and waste management to maintain hygiene. MHM in general is poor in India due to a low level of knowledge and many misconceptions about it. In recent …
Adolescence is a vital period for human development as life enters a new phase with the onset of menstruation for girls. This new change sometimes leads many adolescents to experience stigma, bullying and social exclusion, also introducing them to new vulnerabilities. In many parts of Bangladesh, menstruation is a taboo and has myths attached to it which can lead to poor personal hygiene and …
The observations and recommendations presented in this gender analysis are meant to provide information to the programme regarding the relevance of gender aspects in Uganda, and particularly for the continued implementation process of the Programme: Water Supply and Sanitation for Refugee Settlements and Host Communities in Northern Uganda (WatSSUP).
*French with English translation*
This session examines the intersectional dimensions of sanitation work relating to gender, caste, class, race and age (including inter-generational change). The speakers cover particular challenges for women sanitation workers in India, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar and Senegal, and explore ways in which to visibilise often hidden or unseen working practices and …
The baseline survey was conducted in the four states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand. This report has analysed the data generated for the following areas:
a. Manual scavenging (MS) and dry latrines
b. Prevalence of stigma, discrimination, untouchability, gender and caste-based discrimination and violence
c. Participation in community led initiatives for rights and …
In India, gender and caste plays a dominant role in the kinds of jobs that women in the workforce are employed in. It is well established that caste and patriarchy are the main compulsive factors that force people, especially women of the specific scheduled caste communities, into manual scavenging. They are into different forms of manual scavenging, mainly cleaning the insanitary dry latrines …
Sanitation workers are the backbone of the public hygiene and waste management system. Despite providing an essential public service, their work is often unrecognised. A majority of the workers too are unaware of the social security and welfare schemes instituted by both the Central and State governments for their wellbeing, which prevents them from availing the benefits such as pension, …
For a wholistic approach of any project, the gender dimension should be included. The Jaffna Healthy City Project is also not an exception. The one out of three-sub pillars of Healthy City Project is WASH in Schools. In a gender inclusive perspective, WASH in Schools included Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH). There are 10 schools from Jaffna city included for Jaffna Healthy City project. Out of …
Recent researches show that Afghan women and girls face many challenges in managing their menstrual cycle or menstruation. They do not have access to sufficient facilities and face discriminatory customs and traditions in the family and society. This issue has made it difficult for them to observe proper health conditions and cleanliness during menstruation.
About 70 percent of girls do not …
There is growing global recognition of menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) as an important health, education, rights, and gender equality issue. As efforts to support MHH gain momentum globally, the lack of adequate validated indicators with related measures is a critical barrier to progress. At national level, the absence of standardized indicators and related measures limits understanding MHH …
Considering the urgent needs of adolescent girls in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a pilot intervention on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) was carried out through the joint collaboration of the Child Protection and WASH sections at the UNICEF Chattogram Field Office in Bangladesh. Partnering with the Sustainable Social Services in …
Considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the urgent needs of adolescent girls in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), a pilot intervention on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) has been carried out by a collaboration of the Child Protection and WASH sections at the UNICEF Chattogram Field Office in Bangladesh. Partnering with the Sustainable Social …
There is growing attention to addressing the menstrual hygiene management (MHM) needs of the over 21 million displaced adolescent girls and women globally. Current approaches to MHM-related humanitarian programming often prioritize the provision of menstrual materials and information. However, a critical component of an MHM response includes the construction and maintenance of water, sanitation …
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