Women's involvement in water supply and sanitation: A case study of rural Gujarat, India

This thesis identifies a planning framework that integrates the policies, programs and delivery systems that successfully involve women in water supply and sanitation (WATSAN) programs in rural Gujarat, India. A case-study approach using qualitative data collection methods is employed for this research. The communities studied include the villages of Chandansar, Varsila, Fagli and Talodra. The results of the study reveal that there are two problems accounting for the failure of WATSAN programs to involve women: intra-organizational gaps and inter-organizational gaps. Intra-organizational gaps are problems existing within government and non-government agencies, whereas inter-organizational gaps are problems of interaction between the WATSAN actors (communities, government agencies, NGO's and donor agencies). The results reveal that it is necessary for Indian organizations to adopt more gender-sensitive approaches and program delivery mechanisms while ensuring that interactions between the different WATSAN actors are also made more gender-sensitive and effective.