ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain.
Sec. Quantitative Sustainability Assessment
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frsus.2025.1562033
Human Capital and Stakeholder Engagement Intervention: A Women Empowerment Pathway to Achieve Sustainable Community Development in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene at Vaijapur Village of Karnataka, India
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Social Work JAIN Deemed to be University, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
- 2Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand
- 3Faculty of Social Administration, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Bangkok, Thailand
- 4Department of Social Work, Central University of Karnataka, Kadaganchi, Karnataka, India
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Introduction: Enhancing human capital through Social Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) strategy, and social entrepreneurship approach, strategically intends to improve knowledge, skills, and practice at the individual and community level. Grounded in human capital theory, the intervention aimed on building the capabilities of women participants to influence Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) outcomes. Community education and stakeholder engagement played a crucial role in strengthening local capabilities and fostering sustainable WASH behaviours. Furthermore, the WASHbased program and stakeholder engagement process have the potential to reduce the risk of infection from waterborne diseases and enhance prevention and control measures within the village community. Methodology: The study intends to measure the influence of human capital and stakeholder engagement interventions on elevating WASH knowledge, attitude, and practice among women participants. The sample size consists of women participants (N=110) in the 20 to 50-year-old age group (Mean=42.78, SD=13.98). All the head women participants of the 110 households selected for the study kept village development as a prime focus.Results: Significant improvement was observed in the outcome status of the knowledge level of women in water, sanitation, and hygiene compared to their baseline status (M= 2.36, SD=.631, df=109, t = 43.792, p<0.01). A significant increase was observed in the outcome status of the attitude of women towards water, sanitation, and hygiene (M= 16.55, SD=1.640, df=109, t =19.755, p<0.01). In the practice domain of WASH, the women participants showed a significant increase in the outcome status compared to their baseline status (M=1.29, SD=.580, df=109, t=17.881, p<0.01).stakeholder engagement and social entrepreneurship approach create a conducive environment for sustainable community development.
Keywords: Human capital intervention, sustainable community development, wash, Sustainable development goals, Women empowerment
Received: 16 Jan 2025; Accepted: 03 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pawar, Chougule and RM. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mahesh Chougule, Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand
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