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p. 5 of 8 BACK | NEXT Purpose of the checklist Why is gender important in water supply and sanitation projects? Key questions and action points in the project cycle Gender analysis Project design Policy dialogue Appendix: Terms of reference for gender specialist Selected references

Gender Checklist: Water Supply and Sanitation

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Project design

Specific components²

Hardware options

• Incorporate the preferences of community men and women on issues such as:

  • number and location of facilities (e.g., wells, pumps, latrines)
  • sharing vs. individual arrangement of facilities
  • type of wells, water pumps, taps, etc.
  • type of latrines and other sanitary facilities (note that where female seclusion is the norm, separate facilities are preferred to shared ones)
  • type of acceptable intermediary means of water transport (e.g., bullock cart, bicycles, mules, etc.)

Financing options

• Highlight women’s strengths in mobilizing savings and resources.

• Incorporate the preferences of men and women in the community on:

  • financing arrangement (e.g., level of fixed cost and O & M fees, cash vs. in-kind/labor contribution)
  • possible preferential treatment for very poor, female-headed and other disadvantaged families
  • credit or community-based revolving funds for WSS (see Box 2)

Community participation mechanism

• Develop a participation strategy for men and women during project implementation and M & E. Avoid overly high expectation of women’s participation and develop a practical schedule, as women often have time and financial constraints. The strategy should incorporate the following:

  • Organizational setup: Establish WUGs and promote women’s representation in executive committees (e.g., chairperson, treasurer). Consider stipulating a mandatory number of women in the executive committees to ensure their representation. If necessary, form separate women’s committees.
  • Group rules: Clearly define rules and responsibilities of members. Establish grievance mechanisms and water-sharing rules to avoid competition between men and women over user rights (e.g., regarding water requirements for home gardens and livestock). Document the agreements in bylaws.
  • Construction: Ensure work conditions that are conducive to women’s participation (e.g., gender-equal wage rates, construction season, toilet and child-care facilities).
  • O&M: Appoint female pump operators, caretakers, and water source monitors, where possible.
  • Sanitation/hygiene: Use women as active agents but be sure to involve husbands and male leaders.
  • Monitoring and evaluation (M & E): Develop a feedback mechanism in which both male and female beneficiaries have a voice.
  • NGOs/CBOs: Identify organizations that could facilitate women’s participation during implementation and M & E.

Training options

• Develop a program of community hygiene education and awareness raising. Consider the types of media to be used, depending on the target group (e.g., teacher training, school curriculum, posters, billboards, radio).
• Raise community awareness of any possible health hazards caused by the transportation of water.
• Consider training women in mechanics and O & M.
• Consider training in financial and organizational management, especially for women.
• Provide gender-awareness training for all project staff, male and female.
• Train executing agency officials and project staff in M & E.

Overall Project Framework

Objectives

• Ensure that sector and project goals focus on poverty reduction, human development, and gender equity.

Modality

• Explore a pilot project approach, if there is not enough experience in participatory and gender-responsive WSS projects.
• Determine the practical level of project area coverage, based on the assessed capacity of executing agencies and community participants.

Poverty reduction and women’s empowerment

• Identify ways to link up with income-generation, literacy, and other activities to support an integrated approach to poverty reduction and women empowerment (e.g. linking up with ongoing or future micro credit projects, dissemination of information on available services, as project components).

Support for decentralization

• Support a decentralized structure to allow linkages between WUGs and local government.
• Include financial and technical capacity building for relevant local government bodies to enable them to effectively support WUGs.

Staffing, scheduling, procurement, and budgeting

• Hire more female project staff.
• Consider seasonal labor demand in scheduling civil works.
• If appropriate, set a minimum percentage of female laborers and prohibit the use of child laborers in the civil works contract.
• Ensure adequate and flexible budgeting to allow a “learning” approach (e.g., training budget, consulting service budget for women’s organizations).

Monitoring and evaluation

• Develop M & E arrangements: (i) internal M & E by project staff; (ii) external M & E by NGOs or consultants, as necessary; and (iii) participatory monitoring by beneficiary men and women.
• Disaggregate all relevant indicators by gender.
• Suggested indicators:
  • Level of WSS use and awareness, among males and among females, e.g., level of satisfaction, level of awareness of technical package chosen, patterns of use, access rates, extent of service coverage, awareness of hygienic practices, time saved in collecting/carrying water.
  • Project sustainability, e.g., cost recovery, breakdown rates, cleanliness of facilities, number of user groups/members (by gender), number of meetings held.
  • Women’s empowerment, e.g., number of women gaining access to credit, increase in women’s income, career prospects for project-trained women.

Documentation

• Document the gender-responsive design features in the RRP and include covenants in the loan agreement to ensure gender-sensitive project design mechanisms to be complied by the executing agency (see Table 1).

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