Working with Simavi to investigate the benefits of gender-transformative WASH programmes collaboration
In collaboration with Simavi and Uttaran NGOs, we applied the Empowerment in WASH Index (EWI) tool to evaluate the WASH SDG programme in Jhaudanga Union, Satkhira District, Bangladesh and compare it to a nearby Union that was not part of the programme. The evaluation focuses on assessing women’s empowerment within the program’s framework, particularly in households actively participating in program activities. Activities conducted by Uttaran and Simavi included the establishment of WASH committees and meetings and activities aimed at generating WASH demand and monitoring progress, and the programme was largely a software programme (no infrastructure was provided). The WASH SDG activities also included a focus on the importance of women’s participation in decision-making at both household and local government levels. We aimed to identify areas of strength of the programme, and areas where it could be improved in future to effectively contributes to its goals of gender equality and sustainable WASH. We found a significant impact of the programme on women’s empowerment. However, men’s empowemrnet was less impacted by the programme which could be addressed in the future as a further area to improve inclusion.
Supporting Oxfam to comprehesnsively evaluate their impact
Oxfam undertook an impact evaluation as part of their rigorous assessment process known as Effectiveness Reviews (ERs) to assess their project ‘ in line with their Strategic Evidence framework. As a component of this framework, Oxfam evaluates a subset of randomly selected significant projects. In this particular impact evaluation, Oxfam employed the Empowerment in WASH Index (EWI) tool to gauge the gender-related outcomes of their WASH intervention, and we supported their evaluation expert to use the tool.
The intervention evaluation encompassed 11 communities situated in the Western Area of Sierra Leone. These communities comprised 5 with newly constructed boreholes, several with water kiosks installed, and 2 where new boreholes were drilled alongside the rehabilitation of public toilets between October 2016 and March 2019.
The outcomes of the impact evaluation revealed that… Oxfam’s report stated, “Empowerment in WASH was not directly aligned with the project’s theory of change, and no significant impacts of the project overall were discerned.” Given that the project primarily focused on infrastructure provision rather than gender equality, these findings may not come as a surprise. Nevertheless, they offer crucial insights into a prevalent assumption within the WASH sector: that the mere provision of infrastructure or services automatically leads to a reduction in gender disparities linked to WASH. These findings underscore the necessity of integrating gender considerations into project design and evaluation processes to discern positive, neutral, or potentially adverse impacts.
Working with IRC, Asutifi North District and Banfora Commmune
Through funding from REACH Oxford, our team partnered with the WASH NGO IRC headquartered in the Netherlands to pilot the EWI in Asutifi North District, Ghana and Banfora commune, Burkina Faso. IRC had on-going water and sanitation projects and WASH master plans for both Asutifi North and Banfora. The pilot testing provided important and detailed diagnostic information on existing gender-based differences in roles, decision making and preferences related to WASH. This information informed the design of IRC interventions in both project districts to respond to these differences and advance inclusive water security and gender equality.
Findings from the pilot studies showed variations and similarities in factors driving disempowerment between the. In Ghana, the pilot highlighted that women’s disempowerment in WASH was greater compared to men, including lower group membership and comfort in participating in community WASH decision-making. Men were less empowered when it came to some household decisions and their own individual attitudes. In Burkina Faso, women had less decision-making input in their households in all areas, including on expenditures on WASH, as well as less say in their communities, and were much more disempowered overall. Entrenched gender roles that influenced women’s higher burden of work in unpaid work highlighted areas needing further intervention. These pilot studies demonstrated the EWI tool’s potential for deepening understanding of the role of empowerment in WASH, and guiding more effective and equitable WASH policies that take a gender-transformative approach.
Collaboration with Ghana Empowerment Livelihood Against Poverty (LEAP) Program
Social protection investments are made based on the assumption that they will lead to better outcomes for women, including improved health outcomes. Our team is working with the LEAP program in Ghana to document the impact, if any, of cash transfer program on access to WASH services at the household level as well as women’s empowerment in WASH. The project involves survey of LEAP beneficial and non-beneficiary households as well as dialogues and interviews with program managers, CSOs, and community leaders across three districts. This project will lead to the identification of program options for aligning cash transfer programs to the strategic needs of poor women at the local level.
Working with WASH stakeholders to improve the EWI tool for global uptake
Our team organized an online consultation workshop with WASH and gender sector practitioners from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, Zambia, India, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia as well as policy experts and researchers. The objectives of the consultation workshop were to learn about measures of women’s empowerment in WASH, particularly the EWI and its potential use; collect expert input on suggestions for modifications or addition to the EWI indicators, additional modules, and validation of the tool. This consultation led to the development of a revised EWI for use in cross-cultural validation of the tool and laid the foundation for a Community of Practice on measuring empowerment and other gender and social equality outcomes.
May 6,2021
