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| R Number: R6575 |
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| Contractor: Southampton University | |
| Dates: 1 April 1996 to 30 September 2000 | |
| Study of institutional and field level gender aspects of official and NGO water supply and sanitation project interventions in Nepal and North India. Identification and dissemination of key interventions to promote effective and sustainable practical and strategic roles for women. | |
| Executive Summary |
| Objectives |
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1. Literature survey of both practical project experience and academic / theoretical analysis of gender issues in water development programmes. 2. Field studies of current institutional policies and practices, and of community level reality of several key governmental and non-governmental, international, national and local institutions active in the rural water sector in Nepal and North India. 3. Analysis of findings from field studies and literature survey; identification of key constraints to better gender practices and of key strategies for improved practice. 4. Development and implementation of dissemination strategies to influence both local practice and national and international policy. |
| Methodology |
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A continuing literature review of worldwide experience, institutional policy and theoretical analysis is ongoing. Field studies of three key institutions in the water sector in Nepal (the national Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS), implementing the Fourth Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project supported by the Asian Development Bank; the FINNIDA-supported Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project; and the national non-governmental organisation NEWAH (Nepal Water for Health) and of four village-level projects implemented by them, have been completed. The findings are being analysed in order to derive recommendations for improved practice in the Nepali sector. Field studies are also being undertaken in two States in northern India, looking at the policies and practices of the World Bank-supported Swajal project of the Department of Rural Development, and the semi-autonomous contractor UP Jal Nigam, both in Uttar Pradesh, and similar institutions and projects in Orissa. The studies are almost complete in Uttar Pradesh and will start in mid-1999 in Orissa. Alongside these programme studies, further work is being done to research national and state-level policies in the sector, especially in relation to gender. |
| Results |
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Whilst it is too early to indicate any conclusive results, it is already clear that there is a wide gulf between policy and practice, even in organisations that appear to be gender-sensitive. Much needs to be done to enable water projects to have an effective and sustainable impact on the lives of both women and men; the project is continuing to define what might be the key strategies in the sector which should facilitate much more gender-sensitive work, both in the countries being studied and throughout the developing world. |
| Contact Details for Further Information |
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Ben Fawcett Institute of Irrigation and Development Studies Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering University of Southampton Southampton SO17 1BJ UK
Tel: +44 1703 592793 |