Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in Relation to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia

Geteneh Moges Assefa, Samiha Sherif, Jose Sluijs, Maarten Kuijpers, Tamene Chaka, Arsema Solomon, Yeshitila Hailu and Muluken Dessalegn Muluneh
Additional contact information
Geteneh Moges Assefa: Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Department, Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia, P.O. Box 20855, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia
Samiha Sherif: Freelance Consultant, San Jose, CA 95129, USA
Jose Sluijs: Amref Flying Doctors, Leiden, Schuttersveld 9, 2316 XG Leiden, The Netherlands
Maarten Kuijpers: Amref Flying Doctors, Leiden, Schuttersveld 9, 2316 XG Leiden, The Netherlands
Tamene Chaka: Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia, P.O. Box 20855, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia
Arsema Solomon: Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia, P.O. Box 20855, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia
Yeshitila Hailu: Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia, P.O. Box 20855, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia
Muluken Dessalegn Muluneh: Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Department, Amref Health Africa in Ethiopia, P.O. Box 20855, Addis Ababa 1000, Ethiopia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 8, 1-19

Abstract: The main purpose of the study was to deepen the understanding of gender and social inclusion in the context of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. An explorative qualitative study was conducted in three districts of the Oromia region using gender analysis frameworks. Twenty-one key informant interviews and nine focus group discussions were conducted. Findings showed 52% of households in the study area have basic service level water, 29% have basic service level sanitation, and 14% have basic service level hygiene. Women, girls, and people living with disability disproportionately experience poor access to quality WASH services. Women and girls participate in unequal domestic labor related to water management which often exposes them to discrimination and violence such as rape, abduction, and assault. Overall, women, girls, and other socially excluded groups are rarely consulted and engaged by local actors. This results in incongruent policy and political commitment which limits action at the grassroots level. Integrating gender equality and inclusion efforts into local governance agendas can help to increase access to and the quality of WASH services. These efforts must advocate for moving beyond gender parity to promote gender transformative approaches and inclusion to realize better WASH services for the communities they serve.

Keywords: women; schoolgirls; social inclusion; gender; WASH service (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4281/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/8/4281/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:8:p:4281-:d:538314

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().