Indicators for Gender Issues in Water and Sanitation

The indicators below are divided into two sections: indicators which can be used during  project monitoring and those which can be used during project evaluation. Within each section  indicators are subdivided into categories such as involvement, benefits and community  management.
 

Involvement

Budget

• percentage of funds earmarked for women and for men
• percentage of funds distributed to women and to men

Performance

• percentage of women and men participating in water and sanitation activities
• percentage of female participation to total potential female participation
• percentage of women among persons trained in
  • maintenance and repair (male/female ratio)
  • health education, etc. (male/female ratio)
• percentage of women in charge of operation, maintenance and repair of facilities  (male/female ratio)

  Community development

• existence of village-level women's group(s), e.g., self-help groups, cooperatives, religious  group
• approximate percentage of women involved (of the total female population of the project  area).
• approximate percentage of men involved (of the total male population of the project area).
• initiatives undertaken by women and men (separately and jointly). How successful are  they?
• what is the socio-economic group of female participants?
• training of women and men in:
  • vocational training
  • maintenance, operation, repair of the facilities
  • leadership and management
  • health education

Impact of the availability of water and sanitation on:
 

• women's and men's productive activities
• women's and men's leisure
• child mortality
• water-related diseases
• women's and men's community participation

Improvement

• Improvement in women's and men's knowledge about water, sanitation, personal  hygiene, health, use of water
• Improvement of skills: in self-organization within water groups; decision-making;  maintaining water facilities; solving problems.
• Improvement in attitudes and beliefs: more women brave enough to attend meetings, talk  and make decisions; seek new information, bring new ideas, feel proud of achievements;  suggest own
  evaluation criteria.

Benefits

Do women use the increased water supply for any of these activities:

• income-generating (e.g., brewing beer)
• clothes washing
• processing food for home or market
• irrigating gardens
• cultivating fish ponds
• rearing of poultry or livestock
• vending (e.g., providing water at bus stops or market)

Which activities provide income for women?

List them

Which activities provided income for men?

List them

Were the activities listed undertaken on the initiative of:

• community women and men individually
• committees of women and men (specify)
• outside organization (specify)
• other (specify)

Do women use time saved for any of these activities:

• market production
• trading
• fruit gathering
• agricultural labor
• sewing
• other (specify)

Which of these activities produce income for women?

List them

Were the activities listed above undertaken by the initiative of:

• village women individually
• committees of women (specify)
• outside organization
• other

Do women and men collect or produce any inputs for the project such as:

• stones, gravel, sand for construction
• pump parts
• well pipes
• latrine slabs
• water carrying and storage containers
• pottery basins for handwashing
• other (specify)

Has health-promoting behavior increased?

If yes, describe.

 

Role of Women and Men in Evaluation

Women and men in the community can work with project staff to identify criteria for the  evaluation, collect and record data, and review evaluation findings. With a stake in the outcome  they will be more motivated to ensure that necessary care is taken in selecting and collecting  data. They will at the same time feel responsible for suggesting modifications themselves,  based on the interpretation of the data gathered. Women and men can not only collect the survey  data, but can also organize a workshop for analyzing the findings.

General Evaluation Issues

• Does this project correspond OT gender priorities as outlined in agency or government  policy documents?
• Were project objectives and indicators related to gender achieved? If not, why not? If yes,  what were the factors most responsible for success?
• Were systematic efforts made to endure that the project was gender sensitive? If so, what  steps were taken and how well did they work? If systematize efforts were not undertaken,  why not?
• Have roles/responsibilities changed as a result of this project? If yes, in what way? How  did the project contribute to these changes?
• Has women's and men's access to, or control of, the following resources changed as a  result of this project? In what way? How did the project contribute to the changes?

- informal education/training
- income
- credit
- sanitation facilities
- safe water
- decision-making authority at national and local levels
- health care
- equipment/technology
- employment
- labor

• • their own
  • others
• Describe and analyze women's and men's participation in project design and  implementation
• Was adequate training available to women and men to ensure absorption of new  technologies/ideas?
• Which of the following groups of women were included as agents (A) or beneficiaries (B)  of the project?