Leadership for SDG 6.2: Is Diversity Missing?

Abstract

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the global sanitation sector have not been the subject of extensive investigation or scrutiny. However, without diverse leadership, the sector will continue to experience failure, inefficient use of dwindling resources, and overall low sanitation coverage rates, with 2 billion people lacking sanitation access. This research presents the first quantitative study of sanitation leadership demographics. The results revealed that older, white males from High-Income Countries comprised over a third of all leadership positions. This research found that two-thirds of all sanitation leaders were white, with white leaders 8.7 times more likely to hold multiple positions across different organizations than Black, Indigenous, or other People of Color. Eighty-eight out of one hundred organizations were headquartered in a High-Income Country, and western institutions dominated education data. Black, Indigenous, and other Women of Color were the least represented group, highlighting the importance of an intersectional perspective when discussing gender and racial equality. These issues must be urgently addressed if the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 targets are to be met effectively. Institutional reform, inclusive hiring policies, and transforming individual attitudes are starting points for change. More organizational data should be made available, and further research needs to be conducted on these topics if a change is to be seen in time for 2030.

Gender equality approaches in water, sanitation, and hygiene programs: Towards gender-transformative practice

“…Support may be provided to address the informal and formal barriers to participation within civic spaces such as committees, forums, platforms or within organizations (Das, 2014). This also requires supporting more diverse governance and leadership at institutional levels to strengthen the linkages between household, community, and institutions (Grant et al, 2021;Worsham et al, 2021;Gonzalez et al, 2022b). For instance, practical strategies such as making meetings more convenient (time and place) may enable women and diverse groups to participate and have a voice in WASH governance processes (Carrard et al, 2013).…”

“…Notably, the sector's historical focus on infrastructure, has been less concerned with social gender issues (Fisher et al, 2017;Sweetman and Medland, 2017). Additionally, WASH has been associated with historically male dominated disciplines such as public health, engineering, and management (Udas and Zwarteveen, 2010;Willetts et al, 2010;Zwarteveen, 2010;Alda-Vidal et al, 2017;World Bank, 2019) and hence the sector has been slow to adopt concepts such as equality and diversity Worsham et al, 2021).…”

Principles for increasing equity in WASH research: understanding barriers faced by LMIC WASH researchers

“…More academics have begun to examine the colonial conditionings of academia resulting in increased visibility of longstanding injustices in systems within universities and the scientific literature. 13–16 …”

Decolonizing WASH Research: Results of a qualitative study and consensus-building process to develop principles for increasing equity in WASH Research

“…There are various actors addressing components of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.” Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) is a distinct sub-sector within global health including the global monitoring system of the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (JMP), academic conferences, and a distinctive sectoral recognition led by UNICEF within the Humanitarian Cluster system alongside clusters like Food Security and Nutrition. Within the context of WASH, there is an increasing focus on inequity, especially on gendered user experiences of WASH services (Caruso et al, 2021) and imbalances in sectoral leadership (Worsham, Sylvester, Hales, McWilliams, & Luseka, 2021). The history of global health undoubtedly influences the power dynamics found in the WASH landscape.…”