Cookie tracking notice
Are we allowed to crumble with cookies and anonymous tracking?

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site (so called session cookies), while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). We use the application Matomo and the external service etracker to analyze your behavior on our website anonymously. Because we value your privacy, we are here with asking your permission to use the following technologies. You can change your settings any time via this link or the menu item in footer menu. For more information visit our Data Policy

September 2024 Sanitation Workers Research Awards 2024- Meet the awardees

Touch (52), with her colleagues, unclog the sewer, Battambang province, Cambodia, March, 2022. Credit: WaterAid/ Dep Kimny

Introducing the distinguished recipients of the 2023 Sanitation Workers Research Awards! These awards, a partnership between the Initiative for Sanitation Workers and the esteemed Water and Health Institute at the UNC, hold a profound purpose: to ignite transformative research on the challenges and rights of sanitation workers.

Sanitation workers provide an indispensable public service, but they often do so at the expense of their own health and dignity, grappling with subpar working and living conditions, and job insecurity. Despite their pivotal role in delivering sanitation services, their fundamental rights to health, safety, and dignity frequently go underappreciated. A glaring gap exists in understanding their circumstances, challenges, and the mechanisms required to safeguard their rights. Research plays an indispensable role in shedding light on this issue, facilitating a more reflective comprehension, and paving the way for policies and initiatives that will enhance sanitation workers' working conditions and protect their rights.

To encourage research on this subject, The Water Institute at the University of North Carolina, and the Initiative for Sanitation Workers (a joint global advocacy initiative by the International Labour Organisation, WaterAid, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, and SNV Netherlands Development Organisation) are supporting the Sanitation Workers Research Awards. These prestigious awards are designed to recognize studies that exemplify excellence, relevance, and impact, and they are unveiled each year at the UNC Water and Health Conference

2024 Sanitation Workers Research Awardees- Best Published Paper

The awardee of the 2024 Sanitation Workers Research Awards, in the Best Published Paper category, is:

Tanvir Ahmed, Dewan Muhammad Shoaib, Kazy Farhat Tabassum, Mehedi Hasan, Fazle Sharior, Mahbubur Rahman, Makfie Farah, Md Azizur Rahman, Alauddin Ahmed, James B. Tidwell, Mahbub-Ul Alam, for their research paper

Evaluation of occupational health and safety intervention for the waste and sanitation workers in Bangladesh during COVID-19

 

2024 Sanitation Workers Research Awardees- Best Original Research Abstract

The awardees of the 2024 Sanitation Workers Research Awards, in the Best original research abstract category, are:

First place

Tazrina Habib Ananya, Afia Zahin Nita Hossain, Tanvir Ahmed, Michael Poustie, Mariam Zaqout, Dani Barrington, for their abstract

Unforeseen adverse outcomes associated with formalization of fecal sludge emptying services in municipalities of Bangladesh

Second place (ex aequo)

Hakimu Sseviiri, Irene Mutesi Nakayenga, Abubaker Semukoteka for their abstract

Analysis of Working Arrangements and Financial Conditions of Sanitation Workers in Kampala city, Uganda

Second place (ex aequo)

Rehema Nannozi, Claire Furlong, Folake Monsurat Babalola, Zahid Hayat Mahmud, Marij Zwart, Christine Maria Hooijmans for their abstract

Impact of faecal sludge emptying technology on the occupational health of humanitarian sanitation workers, Bangladesh

Second place (ex aequo)

Leunita Sumba, Caroline Kabaria, Ivy Chumo, Simon Thuo, Martha Keega, Sylvia Murunga, Elizabeth Wambui, Beatrice Langat, Blessing Mberu for their abstract

Strengthening Social Accountability for Improved Sanitation and Occupational health of Manual Pit Emptiers in Kenya