Empowerment in WASH Index

The Stockholm Environment Institute has developed the Empowerment in WASH Index (EWI) to address gender data gaps in the WASH sector. The tool measures agency, participation, and empowerment across individual, household, and community levels. A case study in Banfora, Burkina Faso, demonstrated that the EWI can identify specific drivers of disempowerment—such as lack of input in expenditure decisions and work balance—to help municipalities design gender-integrated strategic plans. The findings suggest a positive correlation between higher levels of female empowerment and the use of improved sanitation and on-premises water sources.

• The Empowerment in WASH Index (EWI) measures empowerment across three distinct levels: the individual level (personal values and attitudes regarding decision-making), the household level (instrumental agency, control of assets, workload, and information sharing), and the community level (comfort in public speaking, making complaints to authorities, and group membership).
• The EWI is constructed using 12 indicators; a respondent is classified as 'empowered' only if they achieve a minimum of 75% of these indicators. The tool also calculates a gender parity index (GPI) by comparing scores of men and women within the same household.
• A case study in Banfora, Burkina Faso, involving 600 respondents across 20 communities, revealed significant gender disparities: only 26% of women were empowered compared to 63% of men. Additionally, 82% of households lacked gender parity, with an average empowerment gap of 30% between household members.
• In Banfora, the primary factors contributing to women's disempowerment were work balance, comfort in interacting with WASH authorities to make complaints, and lack of input into household decisions regarding community WASH activities and expenditures for water and sanitation.
• Analysis in Banfora indicates that empowered women are more likely to use improved sanitation facilities or water sources on their premises and are less likely to pay for water by container compared to disempowered women.

APA

Dickin, S., & Bisung, E. (2019). Empowerment in WASH Index. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/dickin-ewi-wash-db.pdf

Chicago

Dickin, Sarah, and Elijah Bisung. Empowerment in WASH Index. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2019. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/dickin-ewi-wash-db.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Dickin |first1=Sarah |last2=Bisung |first2=Elijah |title=Empowerment in WASH Index |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=September 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/dickin-ewi-wash-db.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{dickin2019empowerment, author = {Dickin, Sarah and Bisung, Elijah}, title = {{Empowerment in WASH Index}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/dickin-ewi-wash-db.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }