Women and WASH in Nepal: Key Issues and Challenges, Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative

Western Sydney University

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify seventeen areas on which the global community

must concentrate to enable a transition to a more equitable society. Sustainable Development Goal Six (SDG6) —

Clean Water and Sanitation — has six linked targets that aim to “ensure availability and sustainable management of

water and sanitation for all”. To achieve these targets governments and other actors are required to provide Water

Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services in resilient and culturally appropriate ways. Failing to adequately address

WASH can have multiple consequences including disease outbreaks such as cholera and diarrhoea, and can also lead

to loss of life. Women and girls are disproportionately affected with respect to access to WASH, and many programs

designed to improve access to WASH are not gender inclusive. This is the case in Nepal, as will be detailed in this

report.

Many vulnerable groups are disproportionately affected by the lack of sufficient WASH policies or institutional

support. These include marginalised populations; people living with disabilities; poor populations; female headed

households; pregnant and lactating women; senior citizens; children; ethnic minorities; and Indigenous populations.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund

(UNICEF) out of the world’s estimated 7.3 billion people, some 2.1 billion — almost three out of every ten people —

have less than adequate access to safe drinking water, while 4.5 billion — about six out of every ten people — lack

safely managed sanitation service (WHO 2017). The lack of access to WASH also has major effects on health, hygiene,

education and mortality rates. Each year over 340,000 children under five, nearly 1,000 children per day, die from

diarrhoeal diseases from poor hygiene, poor sanitation or unsafe drinking water (WHO 2017).

As several reports have documented, Nepal as a country is rich in water resources, but it faces challenges with

natural disasters, such as the recent earthquake, and developing WASH-related infrastructure, utilizing appropriate

technologies, as well as having the necessary resources to ensure policies are implemented in a context of increasing

urbanization (UNICEF n.d.; WHO & UN Water 2015). The Ministry of Urban Development is responsible for all matters

related to sanitation and drinking water while the Ministry of Health and Population is responsible for hygiene

promotion. Water supply schemes include rural, semi-urban and urban; gravity flow, pumping and combination of

both; and large, medium and small scale. Most rural and semi-urban water schemes are managed by Water Users and

Sanitation Committee (WUSC) whereas urban schemes are operated by a semi-government agency such as Nepal

Water Supply Corporation (NWSC), with water supply in Kathmandu led by a public-private partnership (WHO & UN

Water 2015). There are many specific areas in need of attention and improvement in Nepal that will be detailed in

this report and illustrated in case studies. As the sub targets for SDG6 show, with greater efforts in targeted areas,

improved outcomes can be realised (see Table 1 below).

This report sets out a general overview of the situation in Nepal and then provides details as to the WASH context

in the country, paying attention to the needs of women. Drawing on a literature review and case studies it highlights

priorities for future action and areas in need of attention.