The how tough is WASH framework for assessing the climate resilience of water and sanitation

Abstract

Climate change presents a major threat to water and sanitation services. There is an urgent need to understand and improve resilience, particularly in rural communities and small towns in low- and middle-income countries that already struggle to provide universal access to services and face increasing threats from climate change. To date, there is a lack of a simple framework to assess the resilience of water and sanitation services which hinders the development of strategies to improve services. An interdisciplinary team of engineers and environmental and social scientists were brought together to investigate the development of a resilience measurement framework for use in low- and middle-income countries. Six domains of interest were identified based on a literature review, expert opinion, and limited field assessments in two countries. A scoring system using a Likert scale is proposed to assess the resilience of services and allow analysis at local and national levels to support improvements in individual supplies, identifying systematic faults, and support prioritisation for action. This is a simple, multi-dimensional framework for assessing the resilience of rural and small-town water and sanitation services in LMICs. The framework is being further tested in Nepal and Ethiopia and future results will be reported on its application.

Applying a WASH Risk Assessment Tool in a Rural South African Setting to Identify Risks and Opportunities for Climate Resilient Communities

“…We considered primary and secondary data in a qualitative and quantitative assessment to generate individual classifications of risk for hazards/threats, human exposure, and vulnerability. Like previous climate change and WASH assessments [ 11 , 14 ] each component for hazard/threat, exposure and vulnerability was assigned a classification for risk using a three-point Likert scale (i.e., low, medium, high) depending on the data and evidence. The scores were assigned by applying the framework for risk as outlined in Figure 3 of UNICEF/GWP [ 14 ].…”

“…Information on the political and institutional component was gathered by searching for government and/or municipal documents on climate change policies and adaptation plans for water supply and sanitation sectors of Mopani District [ 18 ]. This component was written up and scored/classified using guidance developed by the University of Bristol on scoring policy indicators through a review of sector policies, climate change policies and adaptation plans [ 11 ]. The components were assigned a classification of low, medium, or high depending on how they influenced the susceptibility of the population to the hazards/threats.…”

“…Monitoring climate factors that affect the WASH sector, as well as WASH-associated pathogens, is essential for the protection of public health [ 11 ]. One of the ways in which this can be done is to undertake risk assessments.…”

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Vulnerability among Rural Areas and Small Towns in South Africa: Exploring the Role of Climate Change, Marginalization, and Inequality

“…For each of the five analyses above, we attempted to answer key pre-defined questions drawing on our observations and interviews (see [27]). A thematic content analysis of interviews was used to analyze interview materials, while relying on the expertise of our trans-disciplinary team to supplement interviewee perspectives with an observational analysis.…”

A conceptual framework for gender and climate mainstreaming to mitigate water inaccessibility in ruralsub‐SaharanAfrica

“…Furthermore, while used here to explore drivers of inaccessibility, the framework can be used to examine drivers of accessibility (denoted by the use of (in)accessibility), that is, strength‐based analyses that are currently under‐emphasized. Moreover, given the recent attention to relational frameworks in water research such as coupled social‐ecological systems and the hydrosocial cycle (Boelens et al, 2016; Linton & Budds, 2014; Liu et al, 2007; Scown et al, 2017) and climate resilient adaptation strategies (Howard et al, 2021), this framework advances critical analysis, knowledge, gaps, and dialogue through an integrative and cross‐sectoral perspective. More generally, this novel framework will help inform and support research, policy, and practice in SSA and other regions by providing critical insights into pathways and synergies among environmental, systemic, and individual drivers of water inaccessibility and how this translates into adverse health, social, political, and economic outcomes for rural women and populations.…”