Collaborations

The Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Insecurity Analysis is based on the human right to water and sanitation. WASH insecurity is influenced by WASH service levels but also by exposure to natural or human-induced hazards and underlying vulnerabilities, such as gender or poverty. WASH insecurity results in negative WASH-related outcomes (e.g., increased rates of water and sanitation diseases) and ultimately, a denial of people’s human rights to water and sanitation. The WASH Insecurity Analysis identifies geographic areas and quantifies the population at risk of WASH insecurity and the population already experiencing WASH insecurity. It is a tool and a process that can bring together diverse stakeholders across the humanitarian-to-development continuum, including those working in the nexus space or fragile contexts, and promotes localization by providing analytical insights at the local level before and aftershocks. It can be used by governments and development actors to prioritize sectoral investments.  

The Global Alliance to Spare Water from Armed Conflicts (GASWAC) mobilises collective efforts to protect water, related infrastructure, and the dignity of populations affected by war. It disseminates legal and technical tools to safeguard freshwater, while fostering collaboration to raise awareness of the humanitarian and environmental consequences of attacks, strengthen compliance with International Humanitarian Law, promote good practices, and support UN resolutions and declarations. Current and potential actions include advocacy, legal engagement, and preventive measures to secure water systems in conflict. The Global WASH Cluster (GWC) and National Coordination Platforms (NCPs) play a key role within the Alliance by connecting humanitarian coordination with global advocacy, ensuring that field-level realities inform international policy and action.

In 2022 the WASH, Nutrition, Food Security and Health clusters established a global-level initiative to explore improved operational response and coordination modalities that will enhance the outcomes for people affected by droughts, conflicts, disease outbreaks, or other specific crises. In these cases, a smaller group of clusters, working closely, would help to save more lives, making use of existing synergies between the four clusters to help shape actions on the ground.

The ICSC initiative does not replace traditional multi-sectoral response modalities, as articulated in country-level Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs), nor does it compete with the essential function of Inter-Cluster Coordination Groups, often convened by UNOCHA. Rather, the value will be added through a new focus on integrated responses in specific circumstances, and on the enhanced operational coordination of the delivery of a minimum package of aid. A set of ICSC tools is under development to facilitate the process for cluster coordinators at the country level.

The Global WASH Cluster’s Accountability and Quality Assurance Initiative is developing tools and approaches to support national clusters set up Accountability and Quality Assurance Systems and to link up with other sectors and cross-cutting issues (gender, accountability, inclusion…).

Leaving no one behind, ending needs by reducing risks and vulnerabilities, and achieving sustainable development and peace is a shared commitment of the United Nations and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee. This requires ‘joined-up’ action for collective outcomes by the humanitarian, development, and peace actors, and effective leadership and coordination play a central role. The Global WASH Cluster, leading the largest humanitarian WASH multi-stakeholder platform, commits to delivering collective outcomes for the Water Decade Action Plan within and beyond the WASH sector.

The Global WASH Cluster’s academic and research partners remain actively engaged in strengthening the evidence base for humanitarian WASH, even as the original research support project has concluded. Building on the Humanitarian WASH Research Agenda, the academic members of the GWC continue to contribute to research generation, translation and uptake across the sector, including through ongoing collaboration with national coordination platforms, universities, research institutions and operational partners. Have a deeper look at the resource center.

The release of the WASH coordination effectiveness research (2023-2024) offers a new milestone for the sector, providing comprehensive evidence on how coordination impacts humanitarian response and how the system can move toward more inclusive, adaptive and locally led coordination models. This work complements the broader WASH Research Agenda by addressing a major evidence gap on the enabling environment required for quality WASH outcomes.

The GWC welcomes continued engagement from practitioners, academics, research institutions and coordination teams interested in advancing the humanitarian WASH evidence base. Organisations undertaking new research, seeking collaboration, or wishing to highlight emerging findings are invited to connect with the GWC Academic and Research Community of Practice. If you would like to recommend a research initiative, share ongoing studies, or explore collaboration opportunities, please reach out—we are committed to supporting a stronger and more connected humanitarian WASH research ecosystem. For more information, to be involved with, or to receive assistance, contact [email protected].

Through strengthened collective commitments and strategic engagement by all stakeholders active in the WASH sector, the implementation of the Road Map 2020–2025 will roll out innovative approaches to save lives, reach the better public and environmental health outcomes and build synergies between acute and complex emergencies, humanitarian crises and long-term development. By 2025, the WASH sector will have the capacity and resources to deliver in emergencies at scale, anywhere, and at any time. This will be achieved through three strategic axes and three prerequisite pillars that integrate and mainstream the core principles of humanitarian assistance. Please visit the WASH Road Map website to know more.

As the world faces an unprecedented level of complex and protracted humanitarian crises, the humanitarian community cannot currently meet WASH needs wherever and whenever they arise. Too often, WASH responses are inadequate and meeting humanitarian or sectoral standards can be a challenge because of capacity limitations, lack of preparedness and insufficient funding.

As a result, emergency WASH services and assistance do not meet the critical needs of the people who depend on them. This second volume of the Water Under Fire report series is dedicated to the WASH sector’s capacity to deliver a predictable, quality humanitarian WASH response, and provides a change agenda and road map towards strengthening this capacity.

Humanitarian actors often play a significant role in supporting national public health capacity to assess, plan, coordinate and implement preparedness and response measures. There is wide support in strengthening the intersectoral response to disease outbreaks to more efficiently and effectively respond to, contain, and potentially prevent disease outbreaks in humanitarian crises. The Global Health Cluster and the Global Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster have the shared objective of ensuring coherence in achieving common objectives, avoiding duplication of efforts, and ensuring areas of greatest need are prioritised.

The aim of the Joint Operational Framework is to bring together the Health and WASH Clusters, Humanitarian Country Teams, OCHA, the WHO, and UNICEF country offices and others in facilitating and supporting the government to guide a timely and effective response to cholera through effective leadership and multi-sectoral coordination.

Knowledge-sharing and identification of knowledge gaps were strengthened through the continued collaboration with the Covid-19 Hygiene Hub. The CAST contributed to the development of the technical guidance on the impacts of Covid-19 on the programme monitoring in collaboration with the Hygiene Hub/LSTHM. The CAST successfully co-lead on the development of the learning brief on coordinating and managing information during the COVID-19 pandemic. WASH Humanitarian Responses was jointly developed in collaboration with the Covid-19 Hygiene Hub, the Global Handwashing Partnership, The RCCE Collective, and the Hand Hygiene for All Initiative.

With humanitarian emergencies occurring at increasing rates and affecting a growing number of people, evidence-based strategies and new solutions – including in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) – are vital to ensure people have their essential needs met, can live in dignity, and are protected from WASH-related diseases.

‘Gaps in WASH in Humanitarian Response: 2021 Update’ reveals the most pressing WASH challenges facing communities affected by crises worldwide.

This gap analysis is informed by the most comprehensive global WASH data collection of its kind, with more than 1,700 people affected by crisis sharing their views and experiences along with almost 700 in-country WASH practitioners. In addition to this, a survey was conducted with 246 global WASH practitioners and a review of 614 academic articles and grey literature publications was completed.