This is an article by Lucy Whitley, Cranfield University, United Kingdom, in the Global Water Forum
Around the world, large numbers of people face structural and environmental barriers to accessing safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. Among these populations at risk are many of the 200 million pastoralists whose lifestyles and extreme environmental settings challenge conventional approaches to WASH. Lucy Whitley and colleagues recently surveyed individuals and households from pastoralist communities in the Afar region in north eastern Ethiopia. They found that that low levels of access to WASH infrastructure are further compounded by risky behaviours related to water containment, storage and transportation. Here she discusses the findings of their survey and how these challenges might be addressed.