About this Research Topic
Access to water and sanitation is still a problem especially in middle-income and developing countries. According to the Joint Monitoring Program report there are 2 billion people that still lack access to safely managed water services
and 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services. In rural areas eight out of ten people still lack basic water services and among the two thirds of people who still lack basic sanitation services are included 92% of people who practice open defecation. It is important to mention that rural communities have different relationship with water, and more than using water for drinking and hygiene purposes, they also need water for social, cultural and economic purposes. Additionally, the traditional health care practices need access to water.
This research topic aims to address what the access to water and sanitation in rural communities consists of, and what could be done to improve it. This will consider the importance of the human rights to water and sanitation as an instrument which can be used to help fostering sustainable actions and resilient communities. Access to water and sanitation are internationally recognized human rights since 2010,therefore it is important to use this framework in order to analyze when and how some groups of people are having their water rights denied. When access to water and sanitation services is based in the human rights framework this helps to create more sustainable actions as communities will participate actively in all decision-making process, ensuring that all groups will be part of it, including women, people with disabilities and the elderly.
For this collection of articles we welcome Original Research, Reviews, Case Reports, Community Case Studies and Policy Brief articles which highlight rural communities' access to water and sanitation addressing the different approaches which can be used to improve it. A gender-based approach can be used and this will be valued. Future articles aim to analyze and cover the following topics but are not limited to them:
- how the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation can be used to improve water and sanitation access in rural communities;
- the technologies that rural communities use to guarantee the access to water and sanitation;
- the role of the service providers and local government;
- the relationship between access to water and sanitation in rural communities and health;
- types of governance and the role of different actors;
- which aspects should be addressed in order to create resilient communities capable of coping with climate change.
and 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation services. In rural areas eight out of ten people still lack basic water services and among the two thirds of people who still lack basic sanitation services are included 92% of people who practice open defecation. It is important to mention that rural communities have different relationship with water, and more than using water for drinking and hygiene purposes, they also need water for social, cultural and economic purposes. Additionally, the traditional health care practices need access to water.
This research topic aims to address what the access to water and sanitation in rural communities consists of, and what could be done to improve it. This will consider the importance of the human rights to water and sanitation as an instrument which can be used to help fostering sustainable actions and resilient communities. Access to water and sanitation are internationally recognized human rights since 2010,therefore it is important to use this framework in order to analyze when and how some groups of people are having their water rights denied. When access to water and sanitation services is based in the human rights framework this helps to create more sustainable actions as communities will participate actively in all decision-making process, ensuring that all groups will be part of it, including women, people with disabilities and the elderly.
For this collection of articles we welcome Original Research, Reviews, Case Reports, Community Case Studies and Policy Brief articles which highlight rural communities' access to water and sanitation addressing the different approaches which can be used to improve it. A gender-based approach can be used and this will be valued. Future articles aim to analyze and cover the following topics but are not limited to them:
- how the Human Rights to Water and Sanitation can be used to improve water and sanitation access in rural communities;
- the technologies that rural communities use to guarantee the access to water and sanitation;
- the role of the service providers and local government;
- the relationship between access to water and sanitation in rural communities and health;
- types of governance and the role of different actors;
- which aspects should be addressed in order to create resilient communities capable of coping with climate change.
Keywords: Water, Sanitation, Rural population, Human rights, Gender, Climate Change
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
