1. NATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON
WOMEN-LED WATER MANAGEMENT:
STRATEGIES TOWARDS WATER SUSTAINABLITY IN RURAL INDIA
NOV 5 - 6, 2012, GURGAON

2. Framework
• Policy
• Environment Across Levels
• Household 1 Learning from experience
2.Men enabling women participation
3.Reservation- Rights-knowledge
sensitization
4. Collective strength
5. Mass media/school curriculum
6. Gender Budgeting
7. Economic Independence
8. NEED based capacity building
9. Institutionalization of regional success

3. Feedback
• Capacity building resource groups-monitoring.
• National state district block village village
level institutional.

4. GROUP TASK
Strategy to make an enabling environment for the
Group-1 women’s role in decision making

5. GROUP TASK
Role of civil society to pave the way for women-led
Group-2 water management and sanitation

6. • 50 % of women should be ensured in water and
sanitation programmes. If 50 % women
participation is not there, then programmes
should not be started.
• Awareness generation in women for making
them realize leadership roles
• March 8 – Women’s Day, oath for participation
• Men should support women in WASH
• Social mobilization of women – trainers and
community mobilisers should be women

7. • Civil society should make their institutions and
programmes gender sensitive.
• Role model of women ( capacity and skill
development)
• Capacity building of women, Ownership among
women should be developed
• Capacity building module should address gender
issues.
• Policy in WASH does not have much influence at
grass roots, good IEC materials like health

8. • Incentives : Women groups should be awarded
for maintaining assets and infrastsure
• Approaches : tailor fit the model to suit cultural
and geographical context (bottom up approach)
• Best practices in WASH, disseminate it widely
• Linkage with government departments at all
levels of government
• Replicate good models to other areas

9. • Pilot project by government with civil society –
how to include women in WASH
• Impact assessment of micro level interventions

10. GROUP TASK
Role of Government institutions to pave the way for
Group-3 women-led water management and sanitation

11. • Segregated Data with relation to Gender-WASH
• Capacity Building for an inclusive strategy to incorporate
Gender into WASH programming
• Record of practices of accountability, to strengthen
implementation; Tracking mechanism for Gender-related
implementation in WASH sector
• Piloting Gender-considerate programme, that would serve for
scaling-up from the bottom
• Synergies between different programmes, and
Departments/Ministries
• Inclusion of Gender and Vulnerable groups into policies
• State-specific policies/flexibilities

12. • Advocacy through Media (issues of Gender/Disparity around WASH services)
• Looking at the District/Block level how the Gender issue can be addressed
best?
• Government Monitoring Framework which includes the “Gender lens”
• Promoting leadership skills and empowerment of women from the grassroot.
• Need to have Government guidelines/mechanism for MHM?
• Capacity Building on software components of the WASH sector to address the
Gender issues.
• Role of Community volunteers, Foot soldiers, Frontline workers, to be
capacitated on Gender-WASH issue; as well as role of Women in those.
• Creating opportunities for women in the WASH sector (such as ASHA, AWW,
etc.)
• Gender dimension in Water Safety Planning, NBA, etc.
• All the above, divided across timeline: short term/mid-term (gender
dimension into flagship programmes), long term (Universities, Departments,
etc)

13. GROUP TASK
1. What research needs exist?
Group-4
2. What methodological issues are we facing?

14. Under-researched issue areas
• Convergence at grassroots level
Need for a model for convergence that incorporates the
gender components
Problems with Convergence:
Lack of institutional coordination at grass roots levels
Lack of community understanding
Need for understanding the water issues in the
multidisciplinary frameworks (climate change, etc)

15. • Lack of understanding of theory of change
• How did it happen?
• More rigorous documentation.

16. • Lack of understanding among women about
their roles related to water at community level
• Limited awareness about their involvement in
water-related work

17. • Discussions on water security need to take
place in the discussion of human development
(education, economic development, etc)
• lack of empirical support for the linkage between
water security and other development
indicators(economy, education, etc)
• Lack data linking water security to HDI

18. • Lack of research on women’s role on irrigation,
drainage and soil& water conversation

19. • Need for gender-friendly sanitation
technology
• Need for template for sanitation technology

20. Methodologies
• Lack of knowledge about gender-related
methodologies
• Inconsistent use of terminologies (women-led,
women participation, etc)
• Need for more rigorous attribution arguments
• Ensuring women respondents