Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Productive Water Use

Figures 13 and 14 visualize differences in the distribution of themes across age and country by percentage of total WASH & Productive Water Use themes.

Community Sanitation

Sanitation emerged as the most frequently mentioned WASH theme across stories, and was mentioned by 30% of total respondents. Sanitation themes were primarily discussed at the community level rather than the household level, indicating a desire for adequate sanitation for everyone in their community, not only their family. Respondents’ future visions that involved Sanitation themes were from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Ghana, but Sanitation was not mentioned in Nepal, Zambia, and Mozambique, which does reflect current IDE sanitation intervention areas. Women respondents were more likely than men to emphasize Sanitation in their stories. Most frequently, storytellers discussed the importance of entire communities having access to latrines or toilets and achieving open-defecation-free (ODF) status. However, the ways storytellers mentioned Sanitation varied across countries, for example, in Vietnam a storyteller spoke about septic tanks in the context of community-level sanitation coverage, “I see that where I live, every house has its own septic tank, unlike the old days. As far as I know, 100% of households have septic tanks unlike before when we had to go 5-7 km to find one. It can be said that people's sanitation conditions have been improved a lot. I think there should be more projects or investments to make people aware of the importance of sanitation and health.” While some stories focused on improvements in sanitation, others pointed out specific gaps, for example, a storyteller in Bangladesh explicitly mentioned the lack of fecal sludge management in the community.

Water Access and Quality

Another important theme was Water Access, which was included in 23% of respondent stories. Water Access was often articulated in a general sense, with storytellers expressing a desire for access to clean water. Occasionally, this theme was linked to specific concerns about water quality, including contamination issues, the use of filters, or a desire for safer water access. In some cases, stories mentioned the variability of water access due to climate and weather conditions. Furthermore, Water Access was frequently associated with productive use, particularly in the context of Irrigation, a thematic area which was mentioned by 12% of respondents. Men were more likely than women to discuss both Water Access and Irrigation within their stories.

Menstrual Health

All mentions of Menstrual Health in the stories originated from Bangladesh, which also reflects current iDE programming, and the mentions were exclusively by females employed in sanitary product businesses. Menstrual Health gained attention from the Cox’s Bazar Selection Committee, where a story from a tailoring and sanitary product entrepreneur was deemed the most impactful. The committee was moved by the entrepreneur's advocacy to challenge social taboos surrounding menstrual health and the use of sanitary napkins. In talking about their business, this entrepreneur shared, “In our communities, social and religious norms restrict women's movement, and women and adolescent girls often cannot share the purchase of sanitary products with their fathers or brothers. Women who require sanitary products cannot afford them due to financial insecurity… I am working to improve menstrual hygiene in the union by raising awareness about the importance of menstrual hygiene management and providing access to affordable sanitary products.” In addition to reflecting the geography of iDE interventions, the absence of the Menstrual Health theme across other stories is likely a product of both social taboos and the fact that the MSC guide did not include this topic specifically in the prompts, but more broadly about WASH and gender norms.

Solid Waste

A final Sanitation theme was Solid Waste Management, which was common in stories from Cambodia, Ghana, and Vietnam. Across these various regions, there was a collective desire for improved garbage management in communities. In Cambodia, local waste management was a key focus in the selection criteria, where iDE is also implementing solid waste pilots. In Vietnam, discussions of waste management often explicitly referred to plastic waste in connection with the Circular Economy theme.