Gender in community water supply, sanitation and water resource protection: A guide to methods and techniques

Abstract

This paper presents a guideline to cover the International Water and Sanitation Center gender-specific requirements. The guidelines begin with identification of needs and priorities of men and women in local communities. To ensure that project objectives are inline with community needs, a gender-specific assessment in the areas of health, socio-economic, and environment is recommended. The authors present a list of gender issues to be considered during project planning and implementation. Diverse occupations, responsibilities, and access can lead groups to identify and prioritize their needs differently. Technological choices can prevent certain groups from participating, or taking part in the decision-making process. Training and arranging for water resources maintenance and management should be gender and community specific. Hygiene and hygiene education, protection of water resources and the environment also require a gender-specific assessment because men and women tend to have different knowledge and needs. Part 4 of this paper presents some tools and methods to support women's integration in project design and implementation. There is a 'how to' list for supporting the involvement of women, making information accessible for women, organizing community meetings, collecting gender-specific data, forming and strengthening local management structures, and training women.