Inclusive hygiene management including menstrual hygiene
Inclusive hygiene management ensures that all people have access to safe and dignified sanitation and hygiene facilities, services, information, and products, including those for menstrual hygiene management. Many people with disabilities experience challenges maintaining adequate hygiene, as a result of inaccessible environments and services. This poses heightened health and safety risks for women and girls with disabilities, who often experience barriers to manage their menstruation and personal hygiene needs in an accessible and dignified way.
Resources in this section provide evidence and guidance on inclusive hygiene and menstrual hygiene management.
Water for Women (2025) Hardwiring Accessibility: Measuring What Matters for and by People with Disabilities
This brief shares lessons on advancing accessibility in WASH services and systems, drawn from the experience of Water for Women partners across Asia-Pacific during the past seven years.
Water for Women (2024) The Criticality of GEDSI for Climate-Resilient WASH
This learning brief shares key findings and insights from the third learning group about the criticality of gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) for climate-resilient inclusive WASH.
Water for Women (2024) What Does Climate-Resilient Inclusive WASH Look Like? Insights from Water for Women
Under our collaborative Learning Agenda 2023-24, drawing on learnings from the implementation of climate-resilient and inclusive WASH projects and research across Asia–Pacific, partners sought to explore this fundamental learning question through a series of dedicated initiatives.
Water for Women (2022) Leaving No One Behind: Experiences from Water for Women
This report is based on a methodology in which CSOs’ LNOB approaches were collated, shared, and used to facilitate participatory engagement for peer-to-peer learning between CSOs to deepen understanding and improve practice.
Water for Women (2022) Leaving No One Behind: Summary of lessons from Water for Women
As part of a dedicated initiative under Water for Women’s Learning Agenda, insights on LNOB approaches from CSO implemented projects are captured in a detailed report and summarised here.
Water for Women (2022) Shifting Social Norms for Transformative WASH: Review of Concepts, Literature and Practice
This review, along with the allied guidance, is intended to support WASH actors with relevant examples of how to change harmful and exclusionary social norms in the context of WASH programming.
Water for Women (2021) Making the Critical Connections between Climate Resilience and Inclusive WASH: Lessons from Water for Women
This report features 12 vignettes from Water for Women partners working on projects in the Asia-Pacific that are helping to build climate resilience through inclusive and sustainable WASH programs and research.
Read more about Water for Women (2020) Disability inclusion and COVID-19: Guidance for WASH delivery
Water for Women (2020) Disability inclusion and COVID-19: Guidance for WASH delivery
Developed by Water for Women and CBM Australia to provide some key principles, considerations and actions which Water for Women Fund partners, and the WASH sector more broadly, can apply to strengthen disability inclusion in their COVID-19 programming responses and adaptations.
Water for Women (2019) Disability Inclusive Systems Strengthening in WASH: How can we do it better?
This Learning Brief aims to advance the Fund’s collective learning on these issues by reflecting on the discussions throughout the Systems Strengthening for Inclusive WASH learning event held in December 2019 in Nepal.
Wilbur, & & Morrison, C (2023) Adapting menstrual health interventions for people with intellectual disabilities in emergencies
This issue will interest practitioners working in menstrual health for people with and without disabilities in the development or humanitarian context.
Wilbur, J et al. (2021) “The weather is not good”: exploring the menstrual health experiences of menstruators with and without disabilities in Vanuatu
Menstrual health is essential for gender equality and achieving the sustainable development goals.
WaterAid Australia (2022) Huggett, C., & Munro, A.K., (2022) Period poverty in the Pacific: Exploring opportunities and barriers to progress menstrual health
This report looks at the current state of menstrual health across the Pacific region, and presents key findings and recommendations to progress it.
World Vision Vanuatu & London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2020) Water, Women and Disability study in Vanuatu
Safely managed drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are essential to human health and well-being.
UNICEF (2021) Menstrual Health & Hygiene for Girls and Women with Disabilities
This tip sheet offers a framework for supporting menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) and practical entry points for meeting the needs of menstruators with disabilities
