Gender and social inclusive WASH planning and policy in Nepal

This paper provides Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in Water Supply Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Sector planning, policies and its implementation. GESI has been recognized by the Government of Nepal as a critical element of equitable development. Policy documents such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper with its social inclusion pillar and the three year interim plan (2014-2017) have clearly provided a mandate for addressing gender and inclusion issues. Second Small Town Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Projects (STWSSSP) adopted a community-based demand-driven approach for project selection, development and implementation and created specific GESI guidelines for the implementation of the project under a detailed GESI Action Plan. It has introduced three key mechanisms under the project, which ensured gender and social inclusion, pro-poor service delivery and sustainable project impact with the Output Based Aid Approach (OBA) based on a public private partnership model.