Sanitation
According to UN-Water, every USD 1 spent on sanitation in developing countries typically sees USD 9 saved in health, education and economic development. In India, while the government and other key stakeholders have made considerable progress in the past few years, sanitation as an issue has been neglected for much of our post-independence history. Within this context, Dasra started working on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in 2012, to build knowledge on WASH-related issues, and to usher in a strategic approach to tackling these issues through funding, collaboration and capacity building of key stakeholders.
Causes
Improving Urban Sanitation
With over 50% of Indians lacking access to a toilet, India accounts for 59% of the 1.1 billion people worldwide who defecate in the open. This problem is concentrated in India’s urban slums, where populations have tripled in the last three decades, intensifying the strain on already insufficient...
Improving Menstrual Health and Hygiene
In the absence of a household toilet in India, 66% of the girls manage their period outside or in an open field. 23% of girls drop out of school when they hit puberty, largely driven by a lack of facilities to safely manage their period in schools. Dasra’s report Spot On! highlights key...
Empowering Adolescent Girls
63 million girls live in homes without toilets while 80% use unsanitary material such as husk and ash to manage their menstruation. This makes girls vulnerable to the risks of sexual harassment and poor health, undermining their current and future potential as individuals. Dasra’s work focuses on...
Improving Sanitation and Hygiene for Adolescent Girls
Sixty three million adolescent girls in India lack access to private toilets, 70% have never heard of menstruation before getting their first period. Dasra’s report, Dignity for Her, discusses how this problem threatens the identity, health and potential of adolescent girls in India. It also...
Insights
Enhancing School Sanitation
Improving sanitation infrastructure (toilets and waste management systems) in schools is one component of an effective strategy to improve sanitation in India. Better school sanitation has a positive impact on 5 out of 8 Millennium Development Goals: universal primary education; gender equality...
Grantmaking with a Gender Lens
Out of India’s 120 million adolescent girls, 63 million lack access to private toilets. Dasra’s whitepaper ‘In Sight’ will help grant makers realize how adopting a gendered approach will create deeper impact and improved returns, when working on sanitation solutions in India. It puts the onus on...