Progress and slippage of sanitation and hygiene targets in Malawi: is SDG6.2 achievable?

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 aims to achieve ‘access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defaecation’ by 2030. We present an in-depth investigation of sanitation and hygiene practices of 939 Malawian households in two districts, previously declared open defa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of water, sanitation, and hygiene for development sanitation, and hygiene for development, 2024-08, Vol.14 (8), p.633-644
Main Authors: Hinton, Rebekah Grace Kudakwashe, Tremblay-Lévesque, Laurent-Charles, Macleod, Christopher, Troldborg, Mads, Kanjaye, Modesta, Kalin, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Defaecation
Households
Hygiene
Malaria
Population
Public health
Sanitation
Soaps
Sustainable development
Sustainable Development Goals
Womens health
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Summary:Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 aims to achieve ‘access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defaecation’ by 2030. We present an in-depth investigation of sanitation and hygiene practices of 939 Malawian households in two districts, previously declared open defaecation-free (ODF). We evaluated whether ODF status was maintained by evaluating access to sanitation and hygiene. We found that 17% returned to open defaecation, and faeces were observed around 10% of the households. We suggest that ODF status is not enough; work is required to maintain progress and consideration of construction quality is critical. Another barrier to SDG 6.2 was that only 7.9% of households had handwashing facilities with soap and water, with soap as a major limitation. However, most households (82%) had soap available for washing suggesting that soap is not being prioritised in handwashing.
ISSN:2043-9083
2408-9362
DOI:10.2166/washdev.2024.263