IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wodepe/v37y2025ics2452292925000086.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the effectiveness of a rights based approach for pro-poor WASH services: A study in urban poor settlements in Khulna, Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Naz, Sumya
  • Hossain, Md. Zakir
  • Rahaman, Khan Rubayet

Abstract

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Rights Based Approach (RBA) in improving water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure in urban poor settlements, with a focus on slum communities in Bangladesh. An experimental design was employed, comparing a treatment slum that received the RBA-based WASH intervention to a control slum without such intervention. Data were collected through a household questionnaire survey, with 100 samples obtained. The study found no significant difference in the Human Security index between the two slums, but a closer examination of individual dimensions revealed that the RBA approach resulted in better WASH facilities in terms of physical accessibility and WASH governance. However, it was less effective in addressing availability, quality, economic accessibility, acceptability & personal safety, and climate resilience in WASH services. While the RBA approach improved access to WASH services, it did not adequately address the financial capacity of the urban poor in ensuring certain WASH facilities. As it highlights the vulnerabilities faced by slum residents in accessing water, it emphasizes the detrimental impact on gender-related stress and heightened health risks. Rights-based WASH interventions have had minimal impact in reducing the stress experienced by women in this regard. The findings provide insights for policymakers to enhance the rights-based approach (RBA) and promote pro-poor WASH services.

Suggested Citation

  • Naz, Sumya & Hossain, Md. Zakir & Rahaman, Khan Rubayet, 2025. "Assessing the effectiveness of a rights based approach for pro-poor WASH services: A study in urban poor settlements in Khulna, Bangladesh," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:37:y:2025:i:c:s2452292925000086
    DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100663
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292925000086
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.wdp.2025.100663?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Bank, 2007. "Bangladesh - Dhaka : Improving Living Conditions for the Urban Poor," World Bank Publications - Reports 7686, The World Bank Group.
    2. Nicola Banks & Manoj Roy & David Hulme, 2011. "Neglecting the urban poor in Bangladesh: research, policy and action in the context of climate change," Global Development Institute Working Paper Series 14411, GDI, The University of Manchester.
    3. Madeline Baer & Andrea Gerlak, 2015. "Implementing the human right to water and sanitation: a study of global and local discourses," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(8), pages 1527-1545, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Saleh Ahmed & Mahbubur Meenar, 2018. "Just Sustainability in the Global South: A Case Study of the Megacity of Dhaka," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 34(4), pages 401-424, December.
    2. Anika Nasra Haque, 2020. "A ‘Whole Systems’ View of Vulnerability to Climatic Risks: The Case of the Urban Poor in Dhaka, Bangladesh," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 20(2), pages 101-118, April.
    3. Kapoor, Mudit & le Blanc, David, 2008. "Measuring risk on investment in informal (illegal) housing: Theory and evidence from Pune, India," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 311-329, July.
    4. Nazmul Huq & Antje Bruns & Lars Ribbe & Saleemul Huq, 2017. "Mainstreaming Ecosystem Services Based Climate Change Adaptation (EbA) in Bangladesh: Status, Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-20, June.
    5. Niu, Dongxiao & Sun, Weizeng & Zheng, Siqi, 2021. "The role of informal housing in lowering China’s urbanization costs," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Nicola Banks, 2016. "Livelihoods Limitations: The Political Economy of Urban Poverty in Dhaka, Bangladesh," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(2), pages 266-292, March.
    7. Brueckner, Jan K. & Lall, Somik V., 2015. "Cities in Developing Countries," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 1399-1455, Elsevier.
    8. Halima BEGUM & Golam MOINUDDIN, 2010. "Spatial Dimension Of Social Exclusion. An Imperial Investigation Into The Relationship Of Housing And Social Exclusion In The Slums Of Dhaka City," Management Research and Practice, Research Centre in Public Administration and Public Services, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 2(3), pages 314-328, September.
    9. Emmy De Buck & Hans Van Remoortel & Karin Hannes & Thashlin Govender & Selvan Naidoo & Bert Avau & Axel Vande Veegaete & Alfred Musekiwa & Vittoria Lutje & Margaret Cargo & Hans‐Joachim Mosler & Phili, 2017. "Approaches to promote handwashing and sanitation behaviour change in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a mixed method systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 1-447.
    10. Gruebner, Oliver & Khan, Mobarak H. & Lautenbach, Sven & Müller, Daniel & Kraemer, Alexander & Lakes, Tobia Maike & Hostert, Patrick, 2011. "A spatial epidemiological analysis of self-rated mental health in the slums of Dhaka," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10, pages 1-15.
    11. Tasnim Azim & Sharful Islam Khan & Quamrun Nahar & Masud Reza & Nazmul Alam & Rumana Saifi & M. Shah Alam & Ezazul Islam Chowdhury & Elizabeth Oliveras, 2009. "20 Years of HIV in Bangladesh," World Bank Publications - Reports 27592, The World Bank Group.
    12. Sunil D Santha & Surinder Jaswal & Devisha Sasidevan & Ajmal Khan & Kaushik Datta & Annu Kuruvilla, 2016. "Climate variability, livelihoods and social inequities: The vulnerability of migrant workers in Indian cities," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 76-89, March.
    13. Brueckner, Jan K., 2013. "Slums in developing countries: New evidence for Indonesia," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 278-290.
    14. Jan K. Brueckner & Harris Selod, 2009. "A Theory of Urban Squatting and Land-Tenure Formalization in Developing Countries," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 28-51, February.
    15. Brueckner, Jan K., 2013. "Urban squatting with rent-seeking organizers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 561-569.
    16. Gruebner, Oliver & Khan, M. Mobarak H. & Lautenbach, Sven & Müller, Daniel & Krämer, Alexander & Lakes, Tobia Maike & Hostert, Patrick, 2012. "Mental health in the slums of Dhaka - a geoepidemiological study," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 12, pages 1-14.
    17. Banks, Nicola, 2011. "Improving Donor Support for Urban Poverty Reduction," WIDER Working Paper Series 068, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    18. Castán Broto, Vanesa, 2017. "Urban Governance and the Politics of Climate change," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 1-15.
    19. Mahbub-Ul Alam & Fazle Sharior & Sharika Ferdous & Atik Ahsan & Tanvir Ahmed & Ayesha Afrin & Supta Sarker & Farhana Akand & Rownak Jahan Archie & Kamrul Hasan & Rosie Renouf & Sam Drabble & Guy Norma, 2020. "Strategies to Connect Low-Income Communities with the Proposed Sewerage Network of the Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Project, Bangladesh: A Qualitative Assessment of the Perspectives of Stakeholders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-18, October.
    20. Nilopa Shah, 2014. "Squatting On Government Land," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 114-136, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:37:y:2025:i:c:s2452292925000086. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development-perspectives .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.