India - women the forgotten half and sanitation still elusive

The world and its governments have committed to halve the proportion of population who do not have access to safe sanitation by 2010 and yet in their plans and strategies women do not find the rightful positions in leadership and decision making. Woman’s role as user and motivator has been well recognized and to some extent exploited, but the core problems which are causes or effects blocking women’s access to sanitation could better be addressed if there is sensitive leadership which can sense and address the issues. The village level committees are structured to have appropriate representation for women yet when it comes to women’s role in high level decision making bodies it is still a long way to go in terms of representation and participation. This paper highlights the status of women vis-à-vis sanitation and analyses with reference to best practices these challenges can be overcome with women leadership.