Gender Equality Approaches in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Programs: Towards Gender-Transformative Practice

The article begins by introducing several connection points between gender equality and WASH, providing definitions related to gender and development, and clarifying two conceptual models which have been used to classify and describe different forms of gender-integration in development programming. Following this, we describe the inquiry’s approach, which comprised of three sensemaking workshops drawing on existing published cases and the experiences of the Australian government’s Water for Women Fund. The results section begins with the introduction of a framework of gender-integration suitable for the WASH sector. Next, the study illustrates the framework’s application in three types of WASH activities: (1) community mobilization, (2) governance, service provision and oversight, and (3) enterprise development. In the discussion, framed by six characteristics of a gender-transformative approach (MacArthur et al., 2022a), the paper provides key considerations for WASH programs interested in adopting gender-transformative perspectives. Finally, the article reflects on future research needs before offering concluding remarks.