The journey and challenges in measuring sustainable water in Oxfam’s impact evaluations with the HWISE Network Artwork

Power in the Pandemic

How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting the people we don't usually hear from? What solutions and leadership are emerging from the crisis? In each episode, we get a glimpse into the world that’s being created in the cracks of this crisis. We will hear from a range of individuals and social leaders, from migrant labourers to trans youth mobilizing in their communities, to humanitarian workers. Join us as we hear the experiences and responses of those living through this pandemic who are already facing inequalities and injustices daily.Follow Power Shifts on Instagram and check out the blogs: https://www.instagram.com/powershiftsproject | https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/category/power-shifts/

All Episodes

Power in the Pandemic

The journey and challenges in measuring sustainable water in Oxfam’s impact evaluations with the HWISE Network

March 23, 2020 • Oxfam

"It’s easy to see that water is an issue the world over. Either too much, too little or unsafe”

How can we effectively measure sustainable water? How can we understand the impact and effectiveness of our work in relation to water insecurity?

For World Water Day 2020, The Real Geek Series discusses how research, measurement and evaluation are essential tools in improving the impact of our work in water insecure areas. Jola Miziniak, Strategic Lead for Sustainable Water, interviews Jaynie Vonk, Global Advisor for Impact Evaluations, along with Sera Young, Associate Professor of Anthropology & Global Health at Northwestern University, who led the development of the Household Water InSecurity Experiences (HWISE) Scale.

The episode will explore how the HWISE scale came about and how it’s being used to track vulnerability to water insecurity. The team will consider how Oxfam’s impact evaluations and Sustainable Water and Sanitation index are incorporating HWISE to measure programme effectiveness. And, we'll share insights into what the emerging data tells us about water insecurity.

Resources:

Visit the HWISE website

Read the recent publication by Jaynie Vonk and Sera Young, Is household water insecurity a link between water governance and well-being? A multi-site analysis

Visit the HWISE Research Coordination Network

Access the HWISE User Manual

Visit Oxfam’s Effectiveness Reviews home page and read the papers

Find out more about how Oxfam’s Impact Evaluations relate to GDPR in our paper, blog and podcast,

And, you can also hear how resilience capacities are being measured by the impact evaluation team.

Photo: Oxfam/Bekki Frost
Hygiene Promotion in Chawama