“Filthy Water Cannot Be Washed”: Participation, behavioral change, and the implementation of sustainable handwashing practices in Malawi

This thesis deals with the challenges low-income countries face when working towards reaching the Sustainable Development Goals. The thesis looks into Malawi’s capacity to reach SDG 6 “Ensure access to water and sanitation for all,” with a particular focus on handwashing. I did this by analyzing policies and strategies made public by the government of Malawi, the United Nations, and the civil society organizations active in the sector. Additionally, I studied the Covid-19 pandemic’s effect on handwashing development in Malawi, through an analysis of newspaper articles about handwashing from 2020, as well as interviews with key informants in the field. The theoretical perspectives used are sustainable development theory, participation theory, and behavioral change. An essential part of the analysis was looking at how the implementers of water projects use these theories in their policies as there is substantial research to prove their effectiveness. The actors involved have varying degrees of success in working together and creating unified policies. Moreover, there is often a gap between the policy and the implementation. Even when there is positive work being done, the structural issues in Malawi overshadow that work, and ultimately, poverty is the main issue that needs to be addressed before any other development can genuinely make a difference. That being said, the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly influenced the way water, sanitation, and hygiene projects are approached. A significant increase in funding and projects have increased access to handwashing in the cities and in schools; additionally, the promotion of handwashing has changed behavior where access was available