Inclusive Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health (WASH2): Towards a Sustainable and Healthy Society

Dear Colleagues,

Many communities around the world are struggling to meet WASH challenges: water, sanitation, and hygiene-borne hazards, risks, and vulnerabilities, including a range of diseases, water scarcity, depletion, and pollution. Although WASH is sometimes overlooked by health or development researchers, at present, water, sanitation, hygiene, and health (WASH2) is a global concern and priority area in the international development sector. Although the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) included improved drinking water supply, water quality and safety are still very precarious in many regions of the world, including Asia. Globally, as many as 700 million still rely on unsafe drinking water sources such as rivers, streams, ponds, unprotected open wells, and poorly protected springs. Additionally, even some populations who are using “improved” drinking water sources are not consuming safe water. Improved sanitation facilities for one billion people need to be achieved by 2030 to meet the sanitation target set by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The United Nations estimates that proper hygiene and safe water supply could save millions of children a year. The extent and impact of sanitation inadequacy are rooted in social, economic, political, and ecological realities that are particularly complex in the global south. It is crosscut by gender norms, cultural beliefs, and income poverty.

Access to water and sanitation for all is Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, the SDGs bring a renewed commitment to achieving universal access to safe water and sanitation by 2030, many marginalized groups are still excluded from the WASH2 services, plans, and programs in low-, middle-, and high-income countries around the world which may be challenging to develop a sustainable and healthy society around the world. Access to safe water and sanitation are fundamental human rights, as recognized by the United Nations in 2010, though effective enforcement mechanisms are lacking. Moreover, there is an increasing awareness of the complex intersections between different SDGs, for example, between SDG6 (clean water and sanitation) and the “equality SDGs” (SDG5—Gender Equality and SDG10—Reducing Inequality), meaning that the principles of non-discrimination and equality in access to water and sanitation programs and policies should be present at all levels.

This Special Issue calls for original research on those excluded people who may be systematically ignored from WASH2 services, initiatives, and programs due to poverty, power (both local and international), social exclusion, and other hidden factors in society. It will also focus on individual inequalities such as gender and disability, which can lead to the unsafe condition of those people related to WASH2. Moreover, the SI will uncover the inequalities in some groups in the society, such as caste or religion, who face challenges in accessing WASH2 services. Politicospatial inequalities such as informal settlements/slums or remote/rural places could also enhance unsafe WASH2 services in many parts of the world. We also call for papers examining the challenges faced by groups such as the homeless, indigenous people/First Nations communities/aboriginal people, and farmers who are systematically excluded from WASH2 services, plan, programs, and initiatives in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Critical review papers with the new dimension will also be considered for this Special Issue.

Dr. Sayed Mohammad Nazim Uddin
Prof. Dr. Chad Staddon
Guest Editors

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• Global Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health (WASH2)
• Social exclusion
• Marginalization
• Global South and North
• Inequalities and insecurity
• Global health or international health or one health research
• Risks, hazards and vulnerabilities
• Homelessness
• Poverty and power
• Service delivery
• WASH2 and women
• Indigenous/First Nations/Aboriginal people
• WASH2 system approach
• Community-based research
• Epidemiology
• Health policy
• Environmental health
• Urban political ecology
• Humanitarian WASH2