Institutional WASH in the SDGs: data gaps and opportunities for national monitoring

Abstract

The inclusion of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in non-household settings in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) elicits the need for data to track progress over time. This review focuses on schools and health care facilities, and seeks to: (1) assess the availability of SDG baseline data for ten case study countries; (2) evaluate the extent to which existing national data allow monitoring against the SDG criteria; and (3) identify opportunities to improve the availability and quality of data for SDG monitoring. While none of the ten countries could provide all of the data needed to establish comprehensive SDG baselines, every country had information on at least some of the indicators. Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) currently provide the majority of national data on WASH in schools and, in many cases, could be aligned with the SDG criteria with only minor changes. Far fewer data are available for health care facilities. Health Management Information Systems (HMIS) provide a potential entry point for national monitoring. However, where HMIS are administered monthly, annual data collection instruments, such as facility inventory surveys, may be more appropriate. These findings have implications for monitoring WASH in other settings, such as workplaces and prisons.

Drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) situation in primary schools of Pakistan: the impact of WASH-related interventions and policy on children school performance

“…Studies on various countries provide information on some of the indicators such as of availability to some extent or accessibility of WASH services in schools settings but lack comprehensive data on all three areas of WASH to establish comparison with all three domains (Chatterley et al 2018;Kotingo 2014;Mooijman 2012;Morgan et al 2017;Snehalatha et al 2015;UNICEF 2018;W. UNICEF 2016).…”

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools in Brazil pre-and peri-COVID-19 pandemic: Are schools making any progress?

“…This, however, is not an issue restricted to Brazil. As with WASH in schools monitoring, indicators vary between sources and countries, which hampers the comparison of WASH in schools across locations ( Chatterley et al, 2018 ). According to the systematic review on WASH in schools in LMICs conducted by Poague et al (2022) considering 18,465 schools described in 65 studies across 30 different countries, the water source in 6% of schools (n = 1118) was classified as “unknown” because the terms and indicators used in the studies did not fit the JMP classification.…”

“…According to the WHO/UNICEF report on WASH in schools from 2020, Latin America and the Caribbean were the only regions to record a decrease in data availability on WASH in schools from 2000 to 2019 (WHO and WHO UNICEF, 2020 ). As has been highlighted by Chatterley et al (2018) , harmonized nationally-representative data on WASH in schools is rarely available and, when provided, existing data are often not fully utilized. Since 2014 nationwide data on WASH in schools in Brazil have been publicly available by the Brazilian government as part of the information collected through the Brazilian National School Census (BSNC) ( INEP, 2021 ).…”

Menstrual hygiene management in rural schools in Šumadija and Pomoravlje districts (Serbia)

“…However, the recommendation of the World Health Organization is that member countries should set criteria for "advanced services according to their national contexts and circumstances, which would include menstrual hygiene education at schools, including adequate menstrual hygiene management." [1,22].…”