Gender and WASH roundtable in India

Uttam Kumar Saha, from FSM Network and Practical Action, had the privilege of participating in a significant event hosted at the BMGF office in Delhi. This event was a Gender and WASH roundtable, gathering all BMGF’s grantees in India, with the notable inclusion of one grantee, ENPHO, hailing from Nepal. 

The roster of esteemed grantees from India featured organizations such as CPR, UMC, EY, CEPT, IIHS, CREA, JANAGRAHA, ASCI, and DASRA. In addition to the vibrant array of grant recipients, the roundtable welcomed representatives from BMGF, including the Gender team from Seattle, USA, and Gender and Urban Sanitation experts from their Delhi offices. 

The primary objective of this gathering was to foster an environment for grantees to exchange insights on their ongoing gender-focused work in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector. Participants eagerly shared their experiences, key learnings, and the challenges they had encountered in their respective initiatives. 

A noteworthy highlight of the event was BMGF’s presentation of their newly formulated gender logic chain. This comprehensive framework outlines the inputs, outputs, outcomes, and impacts of their gender-focused endeavors. Notably, BMGF is placing increased emphasis on outcomes, impacts, and scalability in their efforts. At the impact level, they envision significant changes in terms of enhanced access, agency, and authority for marginalized communities. 

Additionally, the participants engaged in insightful discussions about the priorities essential to fortifying gender inclusivity within urban sanitation across the South Asian region. They collectively advised that setting realistic targets, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is imperative, given the limited timeframe of seven years (2023-2030) remaining to meet these critical global objectives. This forward-thinking approach underscores the shared commitment to driving tangible and sustainable change in the realm of gender and WASH across South Asia.