The PROMISE Consortium (Promoting Evidence-Based Investments in Sanitation and Hygiene for Health & Equity) is an international partnership transforming how governments invest in sanitation and hygiene. We bring together academic institutions, government agencies, and utility partners across seven countries—Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia—working alongside technical leaders from Emory University and the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill.
Our mission is clear: to strengthen national and municipal capacity for evidence-driven sanitation and hygiene planning that protects public health, promotes equity, and builds climate resilience. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute, PROMISE is embedding scientific evidence into policies, financing strategies, and implementation frameworks that reduce pathogen exposure and improve health outcomes in urban communities.
A world where sanitation and hygiene investments are guided by rigorous scientific evidence, promoting health equity and environmental sustainability in urban communities across low and middle-income countries.
To institutionalize evidence-based decision-making in sanitation and hygiene policies, investments, and implementation by building capacity, generating actionable data, and fostering collaboration between research institutions, governments, and communities.
The PROMISE Consortium promotes evidence-based decision-making about sanitation and hygiene policies, investments, and implementation by national, regional, and municipal governments, with emphasis on:
Minimize human contact with fecal pathogens in communities and institutions through systematic risk assessment and intervention targeting.
Integrate fecal sludge management and safely managed sanitation systems across the entire service chain, from containment to treatment and safe disposal.
Embed gender equity and climate adaptation principles in sanitation design, financing, and implementation to ensure inclusive and sustainable outcomes.
Support cross-sector collaboration to prevent zoonotic and environmental health risks through integrated water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions.
Foster the routine use of data-driven decision tools within municipal and national planning processes, ensuring sustainability beyond project timelines.
The PROMISE Consortium operates on principles of equitable partnership.
Partner countries share experiences, methodologies, and lessons learned through regular workshops, joint training programs, and peer-to-peer mentorship. This horizontal exchange strengthens regional capacity and ensures solutions are contextually relevant.
Technical institutions in the United States (Emory University and UNC Chapel Hill) provide scientific leadership, methodological guidance, and capacity building support while ensuring that research priorities and approaches are driven by country partners’ needs and contexts.
The Consortium bridges research institutions, government agencies, utility operators, and community stakeholders to ensure that evidence generation directly informs policy and practice.
We don’t just generate data—we work with governments to translate findings into actionable policies, investment priorities, and implementation strategies. Our tools and methods are designed for integration into existing planning frameworks.
Long-term sustainability requires local expertise. We invest heavily in training researchers, government staff, and practitioners to independently deploy decision-support tools, manage data systems, and advocate for evidence-based approaches.
From project inception, we engage policymakers, municipal authorities, and community stakeholders to ensure ownership, relevance, and sustained uptake of research findings.
Regular cross-country workshops, joint reflection sessions, and collaborative problem-solving create a learning environment where innovations from one context strengthen work in others.
The PROMISE Consortium emerged from a recognition that sanitation and hygiene research could better serve low- and middle-income countries through more equitable partnership models.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical gaps in public health systems and highlighted the importance of environmental health data for decision-making. Recognizing that many sanitation tools were developed externally and not always aligned with local priorities, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's WASH team convened partners from seven countries in May 2022 to reimagine research collaboration.
Over two days in Seattle, partners from Bangladesh, Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, alongside Emory University and UNC Chapel Hill, co-created the PROMISE vision. The guiding question was: "How can evidence improve health and development policy while ensuring local input from inception and building long-term capacity?"
Following the initial meeting, country partners conducted stakeholder engagement workshops to gather input from government agencies, utilities, NGOs, and communities. This participatory approach generated tremendous buy-in and ensured the Consortium's structure reflected partner needs and priorities.
With governance structures established and funding secured from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Reckitt Global Hygiene Institute, PROMISE transitioned from planning to active implementation. Field research began across all countries, capacity building intensified, and early policy impacts emerged, including Uganda's integration of decision-support tools into national policy.
