Area-wide Sanitation: Overview and Evidence Gaps

The purpose of this desk review is to collate the definitions and frameworks developed for area-wide sanitation (AWS) and examine how AWS programming has been implemented in practice. The aim is to arrive at a common definition of AWS, identify its core components, and develop a high-level theory of change (ToC) for how these components are structured. WASHPaLS #2 compiled these core components into a draft Theory of Change that connects them to the intended outcomes of AWS, though the largest gaps remain around the lack of documentation of area-wide programs in practice, including how these components are to be implemented, particularly in rural areas and under resource-constrained governments.