Integrating Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in WASH and IWRM

This page is a curated collection of technical resources, tools, learning documents, research, videos, and webinar recordings on GESI in WASH and WRM.

A group of women wearing face masks line up outside a latrine.
Zimbabwe - PRO-WASH and Takunda, Jess MacArthur 2022

About

Gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) aspects are deeply embedded within WASH and WRM programming. Improvements in WASH and WRM practice can affect gender equality and social norms and vice versa. 

As such, there are risks that WASH and WRM programming of having negative unintended consequences on social norms and gender equality, dampening potential positive impacts. This page is updated on a regular basis by the PRO-WASH & SCALE Award to support practitioners. 

If you are interested in learning more these resources or sharing your own resources, please contact PRO-WASH & SCALE at (prowashandscale@savechildren.org).

Please visit the PRO-WASH & SCALE page to learn more about additional capacity strengthening, knowledge-sharing, and applied research opportunities.

Resources
  • Integrating gender equality and social inclusion in WASH and IWRM: A practitioner cheatsheet. This cheatsheet provides an overview of integrating gender equality and social inclusion into WASH, including the why and the how.
  • Integrating gender equality and social inclusion in WASH and IWRM: A quick guide for WASH and IWRM practitioners. This annotated bibliography of examples and resources is designed to support water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and integrated water resource management (IWRM) practitioners in integrating gender equality and social inclusion outcomes (GESI).
Case Studies
  • Social and gender dynamics of youth clubs in Budikadidi: A mixed-methods micronarrative study. This learning brief presents the findings of a micronarrative assessment of gender and social dynamics within youth clubs in rural DRC using short semi-structured interviews. The study was a partnership between Budikadidi and PRO-WASH and sought to understand the social and gender dynamics within the youth clubs. Findings are being used to boost leadership and communication skills of female respondents for the final year of the program.
  • Gender and social dynamics of water management committees in Budikadidi: A qualitative participatory rapid appraisal. This learning brief presents the findings of a participatory rapid appraisal of gender and social dynamics within water management committees in rural DRC using gender-segregated focus group discussions with seven committees. The study was a partnership between Budikadidi and PRO-WASH and sought to understand the gender dynamics of the water management committees and to clarify what can be done to support the committees going forward. 
Webinars and Training Materials
  • Introducing the qualKit for Gender Equality and Social Inclusion and WASH (English and French) 
    • During this event, implementers learned about gender and social inclusion within WASH, considerations around participant selection, and “do no harm” approaches in qualitative research. The webinar focused on the qualKit - an online toolkit designed to support WASH practitioners in the exploration of gender equality and social inclusion. During the webinar participants were able to try out Photovoice and Q-Methodology - two innovative methods within the qualKit. 
  • Three-day training course on qualitative assessments for WASH programs. 
Videos
  • qualKit Approach: Micronarratives. Micronarratives help us understand how different types of people are experiencing a program and in the micronarrative approach teams collect many stories from a wide range of people.
  • qualKit Approach: Photovoice. Photovoice is a participatory photography activity to understand diverse experiences and to advocate for change. Photovoice can empower participants and allow teams to see things through ‘new lenses’.
  • qualKit Approach: Learning Diaries. Many stories from WASH programs are heard or observed by program staff, but they are undocumented. This means that we might discredit these stories as ‘anecdotal’ or ‘subjective’. Learning Diaries systematizes the collection of stories, forming a database to convert ‘anecdotes’ to ‘evidence’. 
  • qualKit Approach: Q-methodology. Q-methodology is an interactive approach that helps understand different viewpoints within a group. It uses a similar approach to card sorting but offers a more sophisticated way to analyze the results.
  • qualKit Approach: Life Histories. Life histories encourage participants to reflect on their lives and the impact of a change in water or sanitation practices. They often use either a timeline or journey mapping tool. 
Partner Resources
  • qualKit - This website hosted by the Institute for Sustainable Futures shares a curated set of qualitative monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) tools designed for gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) programs. It focuses on remote applications during travel-restricted times. The qualKit is available in English and French.