Who is involved
The School-WISE Consortium
The School-WISE Scales are being developed collaboratively by WASH researchers and practitioners from a range of sectors. The Executive Committee oversees the operation of the consortium and sets consistent methodological guidance; implementing partners and site leads carry the work into schools and ensure data integrity.
Executive Committee
The Executive Committee establishes the study protocol, maintains the harmonized database, and coordinates analysis and publication across sites.
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Environmental Health, University at Buffalo; Center for Climate Change and Health Equity
Professor, Northwestern University
Helvetas
Helvetas
Site leads
Site leads adapt the instruments to local language and context, direct data collection, and oversee data integrity.
Data collection complete
Ethiopia · Addis AbabaSplashChris Nicoletti, Fiker Abebe, Israel Yednekachew
Organizations
Data collection
25 schools · 200 students and 100 school staff surveyed · November 2024
Ethiopia · Oromia, Somali, and other regionsNeeds4WaterAsma Rabo, Founder
Organizations
Mozambique · Cabo Delgado and Nampula ProvincesSwiss Water and Sanitation Consortium and HelvetasDercio Obra, Olga Cambaco
Organizations
Data collection
5 schools in Cabo Delgado · 276 students and 100 school staff surveyed · October 2025
Nepal · Bardiya, Surkhet, and DailekhSwiss Water and Sanitation Consortium and HelvetasBal Mukunda Kunwar, Prakash Bohara, Ramesh Bohara
Organizations
Data collection
10 schools · 322 students and 113 school staff surveyed
Peru · Tambogrande, PiuraPartner organization to be confirmedPaula Tallman
Data collection
10 schools · 209 students and 48 school staff surveyed
Rwanda · Muhanga, Musanze, Kamonyi, and GicumbiVirridyLambert Mugabo, Laura MacDonald
Organizations
Uganda · Wobulenzi and KakoogeEawag and the Swiss Water and Sanitation ConsortiumSara Marks, Marisa Boller, Davis Majara
Organizations
Data collection
10 schools · 613 students and 162 school staff surveyed · March 2024
In preparation
Malawi · Zomba and Chikwawa DistrictsFreshwater Project InternationalZoe Pacciani
Organizations
Participating institutions
How the consortium works
Partners agree to collect data using the standardized School-WISE methodology and to contribute de-identified survey, cognitive interview, and facility assessment data to a harmonized database managed by the Executive Committee, for the purposes of scale development and equivalence testing. Contributing sites hold sole ownership of the data they contribute, unless a different agreement is reached.
Sites retain the right to publish their own analyses of the data they contributed, including summary statistics and predictive analyses, without seeking permission. The one request is that sites do not publish site-specific WASH insecurity scales.
Authorship follows ICMJE criteria. Every site lead is offered at least consortium authorship on the primary scale development paper, and funders and contributors at each site are acknowledged in every publication and presentation that uses their data.
With support from
Parts of this work have been supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through the Swiss Water and Sanitation Consortium. Site-level data collection is supported by a range of funders across the consortium.
Join the consortium
We are looking for partners working in schools, in any income setting and in urban or rural areas, who are willing to add the School-WISE survey to monitoring or evaluation work they already have planned.