This section on the Water for Women website explains the importance of gender equality and social inclusion (GSI) and unpacks core concepts and principles for implementation in WASH programming. They prioritise ‘Do No Harm’ (DNH) approaches as a critical way of supporting an ethical approach to inclusion. This includes addressing the risk of backlash that comes with supporting representation and decision-making of women and marginalised groups to ensure that no one is left behind in WASH programming. The Fund aims to sharpen collective understanding and practice of DNH as a focus for learning as part of strengthening ‘inclusive WASH’.
The collective work of Water for Women leads and inspires the global WASH sector to adopt evidence-based socially transformative practice to contribute to eliminating inequalities and achieving sustainable positive change for all. The Fund is committed to GSI in line with global commitments in WASH and beyond, and further contributing to the well-established evidence base regarding the connection between inclusive, equitable and sustainable WASH, and improved gender equality and social inclusion outcomes (WSSCC et al, 2006).
The Fund’s GSI approach supports the ambition of the SDGs to ‘leave no-one behind’. Water for Women recognises gender as a fundamental and globally universal dimension of inequality and denial of rights, while also recognising other dimensions of in equality and rights, such as disability, age, sexual and gender minorities (SGM), ethnic minorities, and people living in extreme poverty and/or remote communities. Water for Women supports efforts to address different forms and contributors to poverty, marginalisation and inequality.
(accessed 4 June 2020)
