Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) insecurity will exacerbate the toll of COVID-19 on women and girls in low-income countries

Ellis Adjei Adams, Yenupini Joyce Adams & Christa Koki

ABSTRACT
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is having a significant global impact on livelihoods, health, and general well-being. This policy brief argues that in low-income countries (LICs) where water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) insecurity is widespread and closely entangled with poverty and other vulnerabilities, COVID-19 will have a particularly devastating impact on women and girls because they bear the disproportionate burden of water collection, sanitation, hygiene, and family welfare – responsibilities embedded in longstanding sociocultural norms. WASH insecurity refers to the physical and relational inequities in WASH access. Using three pathways – reproductive and perinatal health, cultural norms and the risk of COVID-19 infections, and physical and mental health – we discuss how WASH insecurity will worsen the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls in LICs.