Challenges and Opportunities for Advancing Data-Driven WASH Programming

Brown J, Ali SI, Hubbard S, MacDonald L, Peletz R, Sill K, et al. (2024) Challenges and opportunities for advancing data-driven WASH programming: Reflections from the UNC Chapel Hill Water and Health Conference side event “DATA: A key for unlocking quality in WASH programming”. PLOS Water 3(11): e0000316. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.00

Reflections from the UNC Chapel Hill Water and Health Conference side event “DATA: A key for unlocking quality in WASH programming.”

During the 2023 Water & Health Conference at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, WASH researchers, practitioners, and data specialists convened a meeting to discuss the current state and trajectory of data-driven WASH programming in low-middle-income countries contexts. The goals were to identify opportunities for the application of data to drive improvements in WASH program quality and to foster collaboration among organizations working in this space.

This article by experts from the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and collaborators from mWater, the Mortenson Center, Aquaya Institute, Global Water Challenge, and ETH Zurich, summarises four emergent themes, documenting examples of, and recommendations for, action. It is aimed at academic researchers, practitioners, and governments, particularly those involved in designing, implementing, and evaluating WASH programs in low-middle-income countries and in humanitarian contexts.

The paper has been published in the special UNC Water & Health Collection by PLOS Water.