By Amita Bhakta
In the early part of February 2024, I travelled to Ahmedabad, India, to attend the Global South Academic Conclave on WASH and Climate Linkages, hosted by the Center for Water and Sanitation and the Faculty of Planning at CEPT University.
As part of the conclave I had the pleasure of presenting a poster on research I have worked on with Michelle Farrington (Oxfam GB), Marion Staunton (HelpAge International), Diana Hiscock (HelpAge International), and Jamie Myers (Sanitation Learning Hub) on the experiences of older people living with incontinence and their caregivers in areas of Malawi affected by Cyclone Idai, funded by the Humanitarian Innovation Fund at Elhra. Our poster provided insights into the day-to-day challenges faced by older people in trying to manage their incontinence as well as their caregivers, barriers in access to WASH due to weather conditions, psycho-social impacts, and recommendations for incorporating incontinence in climate responsive WASH programming.
At the closing ceremony of the conclave, our poster was commended and I received an award for it in the Balwantrai N. Brahmbhatt lecture hall at CEPT University. The poster is available online here.
