Creating environments to support participation of people with disabilities in public service delivery

The participation of people with disabilities in WASH processes is central to disability inclusive WASH programming. Creating an enabling environment for people with disabilities to claim their rights is key to meaningful participation in community processes and public service delivery. There are few published accounts of the contribution that WASH projects can make to institutionalising disability inclusion in local public service governance and delivery. This paper provides an overview of the key assessment and implementation activities and preliminary outcomes of an urban/peri-urban WASH project in Zimbabwe which is seeking to contribute sustainable improvements in the lives of people with disabilities through enabling citizen action. Constraints in this context are discussed and lessons for WASH actors seeking to achieve inclusive WASH are presented.