IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute

This technical note aims to support sector practitioners in identifying opportunities to tackle gender inequalities in the WASH sector, particularly when working with multistakeholder processes and workshops. It does this by using as an example the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Bottleneck Analysis Tool (WASH BAT), which allows a greater understanding of the persistent gender barriers in the sector, and the definition of actions to tackle them. 

The note shares numerous good practices and short case studies emerging from several WASH BAT workshops, striving for more gender-sensitive, responsive and transformative interventions on WASH systems and service delivery. The note also provides tips and recommendations for practitioners conducting a WASH BAT (or any other multistakeholder participatory process), to ensure that all genders' voices and participation are equally represented throughout.

The note starts by stating the gender gap and its relevance for achieving equal WASH access and use. After discussing case studies from the field, it ends with recommendations for integrating the perspective in WASH BATs preparations, during the workshop, in the action plans, and their follow-up.