Rob Bain

Robert Bain is statistics and monitoring specialist at UNICEF focusing primarily on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Prior to joining UNICEF, he worked at the Water Institute at UNC as a visiting scholar and at the University of Bristol on the Aquatest research programme. Robert received his Masters of Engineering from the University of Cambridge and MIT in 2008.

Household surveys and censuses have been underutilized in research for water and sanitation when compared to other areas of health.  In their systematic review, Fabic et al (2012) highlighted this as a particular gap and noted that they could only find six articles on water and sanitation using Demographic and Health Survey data. While this may in part reflect reporting by UNICEF and WHO’s Joint Monitoring Programme, it underscores the need for more detailed investigation.

As a research fellow at the GRI, Robert will use the wealth of information available in household surveys such as the Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys to investigate inequities in water and sanitation services as well as evaluate means of characterizing the water and sanitation of the poor. Robert’s research interests range from drinking water quality and sanitary risk monitoring to assessing costs of water service provision and evaluating role of aid in water and sanitation.