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While women continue to be responsible for much of the water collection and management of food production for household consumption, their limited access militates against food and water security.

The poor live with minor and major hazards and disaster risk on a daily basis. Mitigating disaster risk involves reducing vulnerability and improving coping capacities and needs to involve all stakeholders. It is recommended that disaster mitigation is made integral part of regular developmental programs.

The case study analyses the available information and experiences in mainstreaming gender concerns in the Punjab Community Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project in Pakistan. It highlights the lessons learned by the stakeholders involved and pays special attention to aspects of good practice that could be replicated in other ADB water projects. DISCLAIMER: Although this case study is part of the activities under the Gender in Water Partnership of ADB and GWA, the report reflects the opinion of the author which is not necessarily that of ADB or GWA.

Less than 80 percent of the rural population in Nepal has access to safe drinking water while less than 25 percent use sanitation facility. Inadequate access to safe water supply combined with poor environmental sanitation and personal hygiene practices is among the leading causes of diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, worm infestation, skin diseases. The The RWSSP Experience used a participatory approach including the non-formal education, hygiene and sanitation education and support to women' s technical training. This proved to have been very effective in empowering the communities including women and seem to result in strong community ownership.

The case studies focus on four key aspects: the beneficiaries: men and women; the implementers at community level: CBOs and NGOs; the institutions and the policies.

GWA joined the Tata Institute for Social Sciences, SaciWaters, and Soppecom to support the organization of this 5 days training programme, which was held from 20-24 October 2008 in Goa, India.The training was the first in a series of workshops as part of the “Crossing Boundaries: Regional Capacity Building on IWRM & Gender and Water project” and 29 participants from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Buthan and Nepal participated in the event. The reports starts with the organisation and preparation process, which includes practical tips for those who want to organise a workshop themselves. The second part of the report describes the course day by day and session by session with ample attention for each session’s key points. Apart from gender concepts, current debates about water rights, the course elaborated on gender concerns in key water sectors, like irrigation, domestic water, sanitation and hygiene, in particular menstrual hygiene management. The third section of the report gives an overview of the exercises and activities carried out by the participants. The report continues with an interesting summary of the participants’ comments on the various workshop topics and sessions. It ends with the assessment of the training by the core team. These last two sections hold valuable lessons on (sensitive) contents as well as on training techniques. The daily workshop schedule and detailed evaluation of the workshop can be found in its annexes.

Within the framework of the Crossing Boundaries: Regional Capacity Building on IWRM and Gender & Water Project, GWA was again one of the contributors to the second workshop on Gender, Water and Equity which was held from 27 April -1 May 2009 at the Kalina Campus in Mumbai. A total of 20 participants from India and Nepal participated in the training. Apart from a detailed description of the individual training sessions, exercises, and evaluation experiences, the report features the account of a fascinating plenary on gender, water and sanitation issues in urban slums, which took place after the field visit of the participants to an urban slum in Mumbai.

From 11-17th of April 2007, Utthan People's Learning Centre for Water and Sanitation organised a international training of trainers for strategizing gender mainstreaming in water and sanitation management. This ToT was supported by GWA and took place in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. The complete report of the workshop can be downloaded here.

A Regional ToT in Bangla language was designed by GWA and held in collaboration with Pradan at CINI Chetana Resource Centre in Poilan in the outskirts of Kolkata, India, from November 25 to December 1, 2008. The ToT was meant to fulfill a long felt need felt by those working in this part of India and in Bangladesh for gender mainstreaming in IWRM. It was intended to assist participants with knowledge and the resources on gender as an organizing principle of water management. It was the first time that such a 'cross-border' linguistic initiative on gender and water was undertaken between the two countries. The report can be downloaded here.

Newsletter composed by a GWA member for GWA members in Bangladesh, India and West Bengal. Issue December 2008