Abstract
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 aims to achieve ‘access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defaecation’ by 2030. We present an in-depth investigation of sanitation and hygiene practices of 939 Malawian households in two districts, previously declared open defaecation-free (ODF). We evaluated whether ODF status was maintained by evaluating access to sanitation and hygiene. We found that 17% returned to open defaecation, and faeces were observed around 10% of the households. We suggest that ODF status is not enough; work is required to maintain progress and consideration of construction quality is critical. Another barrier to SDG 6.2 was that only 7.9% of households had handwashing facilities with soap and water, with soap as a major limitation. However, most households (82%) had soap available for washing suggesting that soap is not being prioritised in handwashing.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 633-644 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| Early online date | 19 Jul 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Aug 2024 |
Funding
This research was funded by the Scottish Government under the Scottish Government Climate Justice Fund Water Futures Programme research grant HN-CJF-03 awarded to the University of Strathclyde (R.K.). Funding was also received from the Scottish Government for the joint PhD studentship of R.G.K.H. between the James Hutton Institute and the University of Strathclyde. The data collection process was funded by CARE with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.
Keywords
- handwashing
- hygiene
- open defaecation
- sanitation
- sustainable development goals
