Sanitation for all: a framework for research and practice to improve equity for people with disabilities

More than 15% of the world’s population has some form of disability, 80% of whom live in low- and middleincome countries, where basic needs, such as sanitation, often go unmet. People with disabilities often face environmental, social, and institutional barriers to accessing sanitation facilities, presenting a major hurdle to achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal of sanitation for all by 2030. Providing individuals with Assistive Technology Devices (ATDs) is a common approach to increasing sanitation access and use, the efficiency of which needs to be considered in broader cultural and economic contexts. With a general motivation to make progress toward the sanitation-for-all goal, this paper discusses a sanitation-for-all framework and describes the role of ATDs in improving access to sanitation. The framework includes three interacting, mediating elements that influence sanitation access—personal/individual, social, and environmental factors. It also includes one moderating element: institutional structures.