Please scroll down to find out more about some of the projects I am working on:
- Guidance on integrating the needs of perimenopausal women into WASH programming
- Experiences of older people living with incontinence and their caregivers in humanitarian settings
- Intersectionality and marginality in faecal sludge management in South Asia
- Gender and social inclusion in energy access programming
- Strengthening the inclusion of people with disabilities in WASH programmes
- Incontinence in humanitarian and low- and middle-income contexts
- Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on progress towards the rights of girls
- Understanding the experiences of disability NGOs in adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Building the capacity of small charities to deliver menstrual health projects in East Africa
- Modern energy cooking services for people with disabilities in low-and middle-income countries
- The use of PhotoVoice in WASH
- Guidance for building accessible WASH facilities
Ongoing projects
Guidance on integrating the needs of perimenopausal women into WASH programming
Addressing the WASH needs of a growing number of perimenopausal women in an ageing population, the majority of whom will be living in low- and middle-income countries by 2030, is key to delivering truly inclusive services. I am currently working with the Sanitation Learning Hub at the Institute of Development Studies to develop and publish practical guidance on how the needs of perimenopausal women can be integrated into existing WASH programming. This project, building on my 9 years’ experience working on this topic, focuses on the importance of further advocacy in order to raise awareness within the WASH sector of the diverse WASH needs of peri-menopausal women and the actions that need to be taken to meet them, recognising that these needs differ from those of adolescent girls that are taken into consideration in the context of MHM.
Experiences of older people living with incontinence and their caregivers in humanitarian settings
I am an investigator on a Humanitarian Innovation Fund funded research project led by Oxfam GB and HelpAge International and the Sanitation Learning Hub at the Institute of Development Studies on ‘Improving the lives of older people – Understanding barriers to inclusion of older people with incontinence in humanitarian WASH programming‘, in Malawi and Ethiopia. I supported the team to gain ethical approval from institutions in Malawi and Ethiopia, and was involved in conducting remote fieldwork between August and September 2021 in humanitarian settings in both countries, bringing new learnings around working with colleagues across the world to collect data without travelling during COVID-19. A journal paper on the experiences of doing this fieldwork remotely was published in Area in 2022 . I also participated in a reflection workshop in the UK in January 2022. I have led on the analysis of the data gathered for this research in communities affected by Cyclone Idai in Malawi and in refugee camps in Ethiopia. I am supporting the write up of the research report through 2023.
Completed projects
Intersectionality and marginality in faecal sludge management in South Asia
Adequate faecal sludge management for off-grid sanitation in rapidly urbanising areas is dependent on a largely ‘hidden’ workforce, sanitation workers, whose lives are shaped by marginality and intersectionality, through gender, age and, in South Asia, caste. I supported the Towards Brown Gold project, led by Prof. Lyla Mehta at the Institute of Development Studies, to explore and identify how the project can apply an intersectional lens to understand the lives of sanitation workers directly involved in the management of faeces. I supported their research in Nepal to ensure that marginality is adequately considered when researching sanitation work, including supporting reflexivity workshops. I reviewed initial findings from the field, and published a blog on the relevance of equality, inclusion and marginality for sanitation workers. This blog featured as part of the Institute of Development Studies’ ‘Spotlight’ bulletin and on the university homepage in May 2022.
Gender and social inclusion in energy access programming
Leaving no one behind in efforts to attain Sustainable Development Goal 7 to ensure access to clean energy for all requires programmes to be inclusive throughout their activities. In collaboration with Dr Magi Matinga, an advisor at Energia, I reviewed the design of the Innovate UK Energy Catalyst programme to ensure it can address aspects of diversity beyond gender alone. This project involved a gender equality and social inclusion analysis of existing documents from the project and consultations with key stakeholders to produce a report.
Strengthening the inclusion of people with disabilities in WASH programmes
Ensuring that people with disabilities, who make up 15% of the global population, are included in WASH programmes in all settings is key. I worked with Oxfam Consults on a Norwegian Church Aid (NCA) funded project to map the quality and quantity of inclusion of persons with disabilities in NCA’s WASH programmes. As a member of a team involving members of Oxfam’s humanitarian team and Brian Reed (freelance consultant), I was a specialist reviewer of progress reports and provide feedback and insights into tools used in the mapping process.
Incontinence in humanitarian and low- and middle-income contexts
Incontinence, which is the involuntary loss of urine or faeces, significantly impacts upon the quality of life of people who experience the condition and those who care for them. Knowledge of incontinence is rare in many low- and middle-income countries, and therefore support for individuals with the condition is often lacking. Incontinence affects people of all genders at any stage of life, such as childhood, adolescence, pregnancy, the perimenopause and into old age. Incontinence can impact people’s physical and mental health, hygiene, and needs for practical and accessible WASH infrastructure.
I have been involved in the writing of various publications on incontinence in WASH. As part of a multidisciplinary team, I have contributed to Guidance on supporting people with incontinence in humanitarian and low- and middle-income contexts, and a Frontiers of Sanitation published through the Sanitation Learning Hub, compiling case studies of why addressing the needs of people with incontinence is important, and highlighting effective methodologies to work with people with incontinence in order to meet their needs.
Exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on progress towards the rights of girls
Progress towards achieving the rights of girls across the world has been put under threat by the COVID-19. I supported Save the Children USA and Save the Children UK’s Girls Advocacy Working Group to conduct desk-based research for and to develop their flagship Global Girlhood report, Girls Rights in Crisis, released in October 2021. This project assessed how key metrics on adolescent girls’ health, protection and education have changed positively or negatively as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Understanding the experiences of disability NGOs in adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of life, including the ways in which non-governmental organisations working in the global South are operating their programmes. I worked with the International Disability and Development Consortium to produce a report, ‘Adjust and Respond: the experience of organisations working with people with disabilities in adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic’. This report was based on findings from a survey about their member organisations’ experiences of adapting to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and responding to the challenges it brings. This project was conducted as part of the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities initiative and it is envisaged that the work will feed into work by UN entities. You can read a blog about the process of developing the questions for the survey and the lessons learned from this experience here. The report was launched at the United Nations Conference of State Parties at a side event in June 2021.
Building the capacity of small charities to deliver menstrual health projects in East Africa
Small charities are working in different parts of the world to deliver community-led menstrual health projects, but require some support in capacity building to ensure that their projects are effective. I have completed a project for Irise International on ‘Building the capacity of small charities to deliver effective, community-led menstrual health projects in East Africa’. This project involved a desk-based study using a survey, email interviews and a review of reports to understand the needs of small charities to deliver menstrual health projects across Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria, to produce a report of these findings. You can read about how I designed and conducted this desk-based research in this blog.
Modern energy cooking services for people with disabilities in low-and middle-income countries
People with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries can face huge challenges when it comes to access to clean energy sources and cook stoves which are safe and easy for them to use. This project acknowledges this and aims to deliver solutions modern energy cooking services. My involvement in this research included literature review and interviews with experts on disability in low- and middle-income countries to produce four reports on cooking and disability, access to energy services for disabled people, how cooking products can be adapted to meet the needs of people with disabilities, and effective techniques to engage with people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. You can read a blog about this here.
The use of PhotoVoice in WASH
PhotoVoice (participatory photography) is a technique in which people are given cameras to identify, represent and enhance their communities by taking photographs. It is particularly useful for exploring hidden and taboo topics and can enable people to convey the issues they experience everyday to decision makers. In recent years, this method has been increasingly used in the WASH sector.
I have published a Learning Paper with the Sanitation Learning Hub at the Institute of Development Studies in the UK, to provide lessons learned on using PhotoVoice to explore taboo and hidden WASH topics. I conducted online interviews and literature searches to understand how PhotoVoice has been used to understand different topics in WASH, to provide information about what PhotoVoice is and how it can be useful for the WASH sector. I teach Masters students at the Faculty of Planning at CEPT University in Ahmedabad on this topic every year, and you can read a blog about teaching this class here.
Guidance for building accessible WASH facilities
People with disabilities often face barriers to accessing and using WASH infrastructure. In recent years, the WASH sector has increasingly looked at how to meet the needs of infrastructural needs of people with disabilities across urban, rural and humanitarian settings. I conducted some preliminary desk-based research for WaterAid UK to explore how existing guidance on constructing accessible WASH facilities for people with disabilities can be updated. This involved semi-structured online interviews and conducting an online survey. I consolidated the findings into a report recommendations for the next steps of the process.