Latrines That Fifteen Percent Cannot Use

An estimated 15% of the world's population lives with some form of disability, and this proportion is often higher among displaced populations due to conflict-related injuries, untreated conditions, and aging. Standard emergency latrines deployed in refugee camps and disaster response settings — typically raised squat plates with no handrails, narrow entrances, and uneven access paths — are physically unusable by people with mobility impairments, elderly individuals, and children with disabilities. UNICEF's TPP calls for an accessible latrine slab that can be rapidly deployed in emergencies with features enabling use by persons with disabilities, but current emergency sanitation products include no accessibility components as standard, and aftermarket modifications are ad hoc and inconsistent.

When people cannot access latrines, they resort to open defecation — increasing disease transmission risk for the entire camp population, not just those with disabilities. Lack of accessible sanitation also creates dignity and safety concerns: persons with disabilities (especially women and girls) who must rely on others for assistance are at elevated risk of gender-based violence. The humanitarian standards framework (Sphere Standards, UNICEF Core Commitments for Children) mandates inclusive WASH services, but implementation consistently falls short because the physical products available to responders were never designed for accessibility.

Accessible latrine designs exist in development contexts (e.g., WaterAid's inclusive WASH guidelines, WEDC's accessible latrine designs) but are designed for permanent or semi-permanent construction, not emergency rapid deployment. They typically require concrete, masons, and construction time incompatible with emergency response timelines. Emergency latrine slabs (e.g., UNICEF's standard plastic latrine slab) are designed for rapid deployment — lightweight, stackable, trucked in bulk — but assume an able-bodied user who can squat unaided. Bolt-on accessibility features (handrails, raised seats) exist but are not part of standard emergency kits, require separate procurement and custom installation, and are rarely available in the critical first weeks of a response when infrastructure decisions become locked in. The fundamental gap is that accessibility has been treated as an add-on rather than integrated into the base product design.

The UNICEF TPP specifies an emergency latrine slab that is: deployable as rapidly as current standard slabs, usable by persons with mobility impairments (including wheelchair users), includes integrated support features (handrails/grab bars), accommodates both squatting and sitting postures, lightweight enough for field transport, and manufactured at scale at costs comparable to current emergency slabs. The design challenge is integrating accessibility features into a product that must be mass-manufactured, flatpacked for shipping, and assembled by unskilled labor in field conditions — a problem at the intersection of industrial design, structural engineering, and inclusive design.

A team could design, prototype, and user-test an accessible emergency latrine slab with integrated foldable grab bars and a dual-position interface (squat and raised-seat options) that flatpacks to the same footprint as the standard UNICEF latrine slab. The key engineering constraint is structural stability of the support features when assembled on uneven ground by non-specialist installers. User testing should include simulated users with restricted mobility, vision impairment, and upper limb impairments. Alternatively, a team could conduct a systematic evaluation of current emergency latrine products against disability-inclusive design standards, documenting specific failure modes and quantifying the engineering modifications needed for compliance. Relevant disciplines: industrial design, mechanical engineering, disability studies, humanitarian engineering.