Gender in WASH partnerships, workforce and impact assessment

This research aims to provide a strengthened evidence base on partnerships with gender and women’s rights organisations as well as gender equality in WASH workforce development. It will also develop a multi-dimensional measure, and complementary qualitative methodologies, to assess attributable impacts of WASH on gender equality.

Despite increasing attention to gender equality and women’s empowerment in the WASH sector, there remain major gaps in evidence and guidance for practitioners and policy-makers. Three cross-cutting themes of women’s voice and leadership, intersectionality and empowerment draw on feminist theory and gender and development literature and underpin the research approach.

Project locations

Cambodia

Partnered with iDE Cambodia and Thrive Networks Cambodia Water for Women Projects

Nepal

Partnered with SNV Nepal Water for Women Project

Timor-Leste

Partnered with WaterAid Timor Water for Women Project

Indonesia

Partnered with Plan Indonesia Water for Women Project

Team and partners

Professor Juliet Willetts

Professor Juliet Willetts

Research Director
Profile

Melita Grant

Melita Grant

Research Principal
Profile

Naomi Carrard

Naomi Carrard

Research Principal
Profile

Jess MacArthur

Jess MacArthur

Research Consultant and Doctoral Candidate
Profile

Diana Gonzalez Botero

Diana Gonzalez Botero

Senior Research Consultant
Profile
Avni Kumar

Avni Kumar

Research Consultant
Profile

Dr. Therese Nguyen Thi Phuong Tam

Dr. Therese Nguyen Thi Phuong Tam

University of Timor Leste

Research Consultant

Ajerino Vieira

Ajerino Vieira

University of Timor Leste

Research Consultant

Annie Soegito

Annie Soegito

Associate Researcher

Dr. Mia Siscawati

Dr. Mia Siscawati

Universitas Indonesia

Head of Gender Studies Graduate Program

Nana Ratnasari

Nana Ratnasari

Universitas Indonesia

Researcher

Nailah Ila

Nailah Ila

Universitas Indonesia

Researcher

Latest

Working in Partnerships

Working in Partnerships

When considering gender equality, disability and social inclusion in WASH, we need to look at both the people who are benefiting from and managing WASH systems, and the institutions that shape and deliver WASH services. We also need to transform these institutions so that they “walk the talk” of equality and inclusion.

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Research outputs 

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Inclusive WASH Workforce

This webpage provides guidance and tools to support inclusive workplaces in the WASH Sector

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Working in Partnerships

This webpage provides examples of working in partnerships with rights holder’s organisations. 

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

WASH-GEM

This webpage introduces guidance and tools to support the use of the WASH-GEM, a novel quantitative measure designed to assist practitioners and researchers in exploring gender outcomes associated with water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs for women and men.  

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

qualkit

This website 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.

Foundational articles

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Women’s empowerment: Sharpening our focus

To meaningfully contribute to women’s empowerment, development programs need to support transformation of the economic, political and social structures within which women in all their diversity live.

Type: Conversation Article

Date: March 2019

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Leadership and voice: More than ‘add women and stir’

Transformative development requires women in all their diversity to have opportunities to lead and have their voices heard.

Type: Conversation Article

Date: March 2019

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Intersectionality: Ask the other question

The international development sector is aware that multiple sources of disadvantage and discrimination impact peoples’ lives, and that marginalisation is magnified when these overlap and intersect.

Type: Conversation Article

Date: March 2019

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Gender-transformative approaches in international development: A brief
history and five uniting principles

Gender inequality remains a persistent challenge in workforces globally, with the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) workforce no exception. This paper aimed to investigate gender dynamics in the Indonesian government WASH workforce at national and subnational levels and evolve conceptual foundations for this type of study.

Type: Journal Article

Date: November 2022

Citation:

MacArthur, J., Carrard, N., Davila, F., Grant, M., Megaw, T., Willetts, J., & Winterford, K. (2022). Gender-transformative approaches in international development: A brief history and five uniting principles. Women’s Studies International Forum. DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2022.102635

Inclusive WASH Workforce

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Inclusive WASH Workforce Guidance

This guidance document is intended to support WASH workplaces to become more inclusive. It highlights the context and provides actionable ideas, tools and responses to GEDSI inequalities across the various stages in a career cycle, as represented in the framework above. 

Type: Guidance

Date: December 2021

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

“Women who have a WASH job like me are proud and honoured”

This summary brief describes how women can participate in and benefit from being part of the government WASH workforce in Cambodia

Type: Summary Brief

Date: January 2022

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Gender equality in the government water, sanitation, and hygiene workforce in Indonesia: An analysis through the Gender at Work framework

Gender inequality remains a persistent challenge in workforces globally, with the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) workforce no exception. This paper aimed to investigate gender dynamics in the Indonesian government WASH workforce at national and subnational levels and evolve conceptual foundations for this type of study.

Type: Journal Article

Date: September 2021

Citation: Soeters S, Siscawati M, Ratnasari, et al. (2021) Gender equality in the government water, sanitation, and hygiene workforce in Indonesia: an analysis through the Gender at Work framework. Development Studies Research 8(1). 280–293. DOI: 10.1080/21665095.2021.1978300

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Women in Leadership- Reflections from the government WASH workforce in Indonesia  

This summary brief presents the key findings from research to investigate gender dynamics in the Indonesian water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) government workforce at national and subnational levels, using the Gender at Work framework.

Type: Summary Brief

Date: December 2021

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

What will it take to strengthen diversity amongst female water, sanitation and hygiene entrepreneurs in Indonesia?

This summary brief presents the key findings from research to investigate the multi-dimensional enablers and barriers faced by female water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) entrepreneurs in the context of Eastern Indonesia.

Type: Summary Brief

Date: December 2021

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Gender equality and women in WASH enterprises in Cambodia: A synthesis of studies

This synthesis of recent studies compiles literature and practical experiences of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working with women in WASH enterprises in Cambodia.

Type: Synthesis Report

Date: April 2020

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Private Sector Learning Agenda: Reading List

This curated reading list compiles key resources related to private sector engagement in WASH, with a focus on inclusion. 

Type: Reading List

Updated: March 2022

Civil Society Partnerships

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Partnerships for Transformation: Guidance for WASH and Rights Holder Organisations

his guidance offers insights into effective partnerships between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector organisations and rights holder organisations (RHOs). It provides practical recommendations for effective collaboration in all types of partnerships and is designed to support organisations looking to begin, build or strengthen partnerships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

Type: Guidance

Date: August 2022

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Partnerships for Transformation: Guidance for WASH and Rights Holder Organisations

his guidance offers insights into effective partnerships between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector organisations and rights holder organisations (RHOs). It provides practical recommendations for effective collaboration in all types of partnerships and is designed to support organisations looking to begin, build or strengthen partnerships to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

Type: Summary Brief

Date: February 2022

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Working together: A study of WASH and gender equality civil society partnerships in Timor-Leste

This summary brief shares highlights from a study that aimed to better understand connections and engagement between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) civil society organisations (CSOs) and women’s and gender equality and inclusion (GESI) CSOs in Timor-Leste.

Type: Summary Brief

Date: August 2022

Impact Evaluation

Quantitative – Measuring and exploring gendered change

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Introducing the WASH-GEM

This summary document introduces the WASH-GEM – a quantitative measure to assist practitioners and researchers in assessing in changes gender outcomes associated with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programmes for women and men.

Type: Summary

Date: October 2020

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

The water, sanitation and hygiene gender equality measure (WASH-GEM): Conceptual foundations and domains of change

This journal article explores five design considerations critical for the robust design of quantitative measures of social change: conceptual framing; measurement focus; measurement context; sectoral scope; and evaluative scope. The paper then defines the WASH-GEM’s five domains of measurement: Resources; Agency; Critical consciousness; Wellbeing; and Structures, and discusses how we balanced theoretical integrity with practical application and relevance to WASH. 

Type: Journal Article

Date: February 2022

CitationCarrard N, MacArthur J, Leahy C, et al. (2022) The water, sanitation and hygiene gender equality measure (WASH-GEM): Conceptual foundations and domains of change. Women’s Studies International Forum 91(2022). Elsevier Ltd: 102563. DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2022.102563.

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

A partnership approach to the design and use of a quantitative measure: Co-producing and piloting the WASH gender equality measure in Cambodia and Nepal

This article explores three dimensions of the WASH-GEM co-production and implementation: (i) the role of partnerships in co-production processes for bringing contextual and practitioner knowledge into measure development; (ii) selected results from the validation pilot in Cambodia and Nepal (n = 3,056) that demonstrate ways in which the measure can inform WASH programming through analysis at different levels and with different co-variants; and (iii) the collaborative process of translating research into programming. 

Type: Journal Article

Date: May 2022

Citation: Gonzalez D, Abdel Sattar R, Budhathoki R, et al. (2022) A partnership approach to the design and use of a quantitative measure: Co-producing and piloting the WASH gender equality measure in Cambodia and Nepal. Development Studies Research 9(1): 142–158. DOI: 10.1080/21665095.2022.2073248.

Qualitative –  Exploring gendered change

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Six principles to strengthen qualitative assessments in development interventions

Drawing from literature and the collaborative process, this article proposes a set of six principles to guide insightful, practical, and robust qualitative assessments. We provide examples regarding how the principles can be used to plan, conduct, and review qualitative assessments with a goal to strengthen the future use of qualitative tools in programming.

Type: Journal Article

Date: April 2022

Citation: MacArthur J, Abdel Sattar R, Carrard N, et al. (2022) Six principles to strengthen qualitative assessments in development interventions. Development in Practice. Routledge. DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2022.2065245.

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Exploring gender transformations for staff members of iDE Cambodia’s SMSU3 WASH Program: Visual Persona Report

This visual report shares the persona results of the midline evaluation of a gender mainstreaming intervention in Cambodia. The report focuses on personas, an innovative evaluation technique used to create personas of change. 

Type: Visual Report

Date: August 2021

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Exploring gendered experiences within iDE Cambodia’s SMSU3 WASH Program: Photo-stories

This visual report shares the photovoice results of the midline evaluation of a gender mainstreaming intervention in Cambodia. The report shares 25 gender-related photo-stories by staff members of iDE Cambodia’s SMSU3 program. 

Type: Visual Report

Date: August 2022

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Eliciting stories of gender-transformative change: Investigating the effectiveness of question prompt formulations in qualitative gender assessments

Leveraging story-based evaluation methods, this article explores the assessment of complex gender-transformations and focuses on effective question prompts to elicit significant and meaningful narratives of change from both women and men.

Type: Journal Article

Date: May 2021

Citation:

MacArthur J, Carrard N, Kozole T, et al. (2022) Eliciting stories of gender- transformative change: Investigating the effectiveness of question prompt formulations in qualitative gender assessments. Evaluation 28(3): 308–329. DOI: 10.1177/13563890221105537.

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Fostering the transformative potential of participatory photography: Insights from water and sanitation assessments

This article considers opportunities to strengthen the transformative potential of participatory photography activities within the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. The research comprised two components: A) a systematic literature review of participatory photography activities in the WASH sector; and B) an empirical case of a photovoice evaluation of a staff-focused gender mainstreaming intervention in Cambodia.

Type: Journal Article

Date: August 2022

Citation:

MacArthur J, Carrard N, Koh S, et al. (2022) Fostering the transformative potential of participatory photography : Insights from water and sanitation assessments. PLOS Water 1(8): e0000036. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pwat.0000036.

Literature Reviews

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

WASH and Gender: A critical review of the literature and implications for gender-transformative WASH research

Through a critical review of academic empirical studies, this paper explores the last decade of WASH-gender literature (2008–2018). It was developed as part of ISF’s work on impact assessment in the water for women program.

Type: Journal Article

Date: September 2020

Citation: MacArthur J, Carrard N and Willetts J (2020) WASH and gender: A critical review of the literature and implications for gender-transformative wash research. Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development 10(4): 818–827. DOI: 10.2166/washdev.2020.232.

Title_GTSA_Nobo Jatra Program Case Study Learning Report

Exploring gendered change: Concepts and trends in gender equality assessments

This paper presents a systematic review of recent investigations of gender equality from development-related academic literature (2009–2019) using two analytical approaches. Our exploration of theoretical foundations identifies four conceptualisations of gendered change, each reflecting the divergent disciplines, actors and interests that operate in the gender and development space.

Type: Journal Article

Date: May 2021

Citation: MacArthur J, Carrard N and Willetts J (2021) Exploring gendered change: concepts and trends in gender equality assessments. Third World Quarterly 42(9). 2189–2208. DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2021.1911636.