When water quality crises drive change: a comparative analysis of the policy processes behind major water contamination events

The occurrence of major water contamination events across the world have been met with varying levels of policy responses. Arsenic—a priority water contaminant globally, occurring naturally in groundwater, causing adverse health effects—is widespread in Bangladesh. However, the policy response has been slow, and marked by ineffectiveness and a lack of accountability. We explore the delayed policy response to the arsenic crisis in Bangladesh through comparison with water contamination crises in other contexts, using the Multiple Streams Framework to compare policy processes. These included Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Campylobacter in Walkerton, Canada; lead and Legionella in Flint, Michigan, USA; and chromium-6 contamination in Hinkley, California, USA. We find that, while water contamination issues are solvable, a range of complex conditions have to be met in order to reach a successful solution. These include aspects of the temporal nature of the event and the outcomes, the social and political context, the extent of the public or media attention regarding the crisis, the politics of visibility, and accountability and blame. In particular, contaminants with chronic health outcomes, and longer periods of subclinical disease, lead to smaller policy windows with less effective policy changes. Emerging evidence on health threats from drinking water contamination raise the risk of new crises and the need for new approaches to deliver policy change

PI support and development project

In the last decade a growing number of PIs (Principal Investigators) in the Social Sciences Division have secured substantial awards which require teams of varying size to be recruited and managed, also evidenced by our growing population of fixed-term researchers (FTRs). There are multiple initiatives across the University and sector more widely to advance research culture change. Oxford has three interconnected priorities: conducting research to the highest standards of rigour, recognising the different skills and roles that contribute to research, and supporting the career aspirations of our colleagues. Other relevant initiatives include the Concordat to support the career development of researchers, Athena Swan, and the Race Equality Charter. This report outlines the methodology and key findings of a qualitative research project, conducted by Professor Katrina Charles, Dr Sam Sneddon and Dr Katherine Collins. The research was supported by the Research Culture Enhancement Fund, to investigate the experiences of both PIs and FTRs of leadership, management, and culture in research teams. It concludes with some suggestions, in the context of wider Divisional and University initiatives on research culture. The research team would like to thank the project steering group of Dr William Allen and Professor Christiaan Monden, and the advisory board (see Appendix 2) for their input and support

Empowerment in water, sanitation and hygiene index

Water, sanitation and hygiene services are often promoted as critical for women's empowerment and gender equality. Tools for monitoring water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) have focused largely on technical standards related to public health outcomes, overlooking those related to broader human wellbeing such as gender and social equality. The Empowerment in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Index (EWI) is a novel survey-based index designed to measure agency, participation and empowerment in the water and sanitation sector. The EWI can be used to assess gender outcomes of a WASH intervention and to monitor changes over time. Drawing on a multi-level conceptualization of empowerment, the EWI is comprised of a suite of indicators at individual, household, and societal levels. The EWI uses responses collected from a male and female respondent at the same household, and represents the proportion of women and men who are empowered, as well as the level of empowerment. We report the methodological approach and data from this pilot study in Burkina Faso. The findings highlight the importance of better understanding household- and community-level power and gender relations, such as decision-making related to household water or sanitation spending. By enabling measurement of women’s empowerment, practitioners and policy-makers can identify and incorporate more targeted strategies that address gender disparities and promote empowerment, and also monitor and evaluate their effectiveness

Learning opportunities for sanitation improvements in informal settlements of East African cities

Progress towards full sanitation coverage in urban areas is slow, with one of the big challenges in East Africa and many other areas being reaching the large proportion who live in informal settlements. The unique characteristics of informal settlements impose varying challenges in installing adequate sanitation facilities. A comparative case study using mixed methods conducted in three East African cities revealed varied perceptions of the residents on barriers hindering the process of toilet installation. Lack of money, topography, lack of space, siting on marginal land, difficult to access sanitation material and services and lack of information were perceived as barriers by residents, but differed between cities. There are different examples of successful strategies to tackle the barriers to sanitation in each city and these offer some opportunities for each of the study cities, as well as other cities with similar challenges, to learn how the same challenges are tackled elsewhere

Global prospects to deliver safe drinking water services for 100 million rural people by 2030

The climate crisis and global pandemic have accelerated the urgency of providing safe drinking water services around the world. Global progress to safe drinking water is off-track with uncertain and limited data on the extent and performance of rural water service providers to inform policy and investment decisions. This report documents a global diagnostic survey to evaluate the status and prospects of rural water service providers from 68 countries. The service providers describe providing drinking water services to a population of around 15 million people through over 3 million waterpoints

Results-based funding for safe drinking water services

Rural infrastructure investments have accelerated the installation of decentralised water supply without corresponding investment in the management and oversight of drinking water quality. The assumption that certain types of infrastructure provide safe drinking water has been widely disproven, with faecal and chemical contamination common in piped systems and boreholes. Managing drinking water safety in rural areas is difficult due to the distances involved and the cost implications, with ongoing responsibilities primarily borne by users. As a result, drinking water safety remains unmanaged for much of the global rural population, which coincides with the majority of people living in extreme poverty. Uptime and partners have demonstrated the ability of professional models to improve reliability of water services in rural environments, with results-based funding supporting sustainability and expansion of the services. Recognising that water safety management activities are critical, this working paper presents an approach that advances contracts for results-based funding to incentivise delivery of safe drinking water services. Standardised metrics for water quality, volume, and revenue are proposed within a framework for protected and reliable drinking water services