Human rights, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), with a specific focus on Disability Inclusion (GEDSI), DRR and climate resilience are cross-cutting issues and mainstreamed in all result areas.

Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) is a conceptual framework for the process of human development normatively based on international human rights standards and principles and operationally directed to promoting and protecting human rights. It seeks to analyse inequalities and redress discriminatory practices and unjust distributions of power that impede development progress. It identifies right-holders and their entitlements, corresponding duty-bearers and their obligations, and works towards strengthening the capacities of rights-holders to make their claims and duty-bearers to meet their obligations. In HRBA, both the realisation of the rights and the process of implementation are equally important. The normative human rights standards give the minimum acceptable level of a desirable outcome. The human rights principles (such as non-discrimination, participation, empowerment and accountability), in turn, give the criteria for an acceptable process. 

The HRBA principles like universality, non-discrimination and equality, participation, and empowerment create enabling environment for all to be involved in maintaining the WASH services. In addition, it is important to promote productive use of water and sanitation complementing family income for operation and maintenance, as well as synergy building with other on-going WASH sector projects for amplifying resources and ensuring new learning.

Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, GESI can be seen as part of a human rights-based approach (HRBA) to programming in Nepal that recognizes the diversity of people and focuses on identifying harmful social norms, stigma and discrimination and addresses barriers in a way that ensures equal participation in decision-making and realization of human rights in the provision of WASH facilities and services. 

The discussions on GESI have long roots in Nepal, with an emphasis on the importance of gender equality and social inclusion in the realisation of human rights. Nepal has voted in favour of various international human rights conventions and instruments. Human rights were given a high priority in the formulation of Nepal’s Constitution in 2015. The Constitution addresses human rights from all aspects of personal freedom and basic rights, e.g., right to equality, right against untouchability and discrimination, right to practice any religion, language, culture and juridical rights. Rights related to basic human needs such as food, education, housing, employment as well as WASH are acknowledged. It also distinguishes the rights to social justice for all disadvantaged and socially marginalized groups, including e.g. Dalits, women, senior citizens, children, indigenous people and nationalities, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

Nepal has also voted in favour of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the ‘Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW)’, which includes ‘right to freedom from discrimination against women in rural water especially in the context of rural WASH’.

A Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion, GEDSI, approach supports the promise of inclusive state envisioned in the Constitution of Nepal and is essential in achieving the SDGs, where a central principle is “leave no-one behind”. GEDSI in WASH entails gender, caste/ethnic groups, poverty and remoteness as well as functional capacity/disability of the people. Social equality, child-gender-disability (CGD) friendly facilities, dignified menstruation management and financial feasibility are key issues in WASH regarding GEDSI. WASH services need to move beyond technical solutions towards a more GEDSI oriented approach that considers existing unequal power relations between men and women, including between persons with and without disabilities and between social groups. It is important to follow up on how these inequalities influence access to resources and participation in decision-making processes. 

Mainstreaming GEDSI in SUSWA requires a systematic analysis of power relations between genders, persons with and without disabilities, and Dalit and other cast people as an example and the intersectionality of these different systems of oppression. It means a systematic commitment to promote equal participation, decision-making roles and access to services in all actions of SUSWA. It also requires, at minimum, a systematic collection and use of sex and disability disaggregated data (disability disaggregation shall be carried out by using the best available methodology – the Washington Group Short set of questions).

GESI is considered in various policies, strategies, and action plans at the national level, for instance in Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Operational Guidelines by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in 2013. The objective of these guidelines is “to ensure that a gender and social inclusion responsive approach is adopted in MoUD and monitored accordingly. It also wants to ensure that GESI issues are addressed and institutionalised throughout the whole project life cycle in all infrastructure-based project interventions. There are guidelines for mainstreaming GESI in different sectors: institutional level arrangements, project cycle steps, WASH and in the building, construction, housing and urban development (BCHUD) sector. The Ministry of Women, Children and Senior Citizens has developed a Gender Equality Policy that will be applicable throughout the country. Due to the federal structure and the new Constitution, several policies on GEDSI/HRBA are being developed both at local and central levels and they are taken into account in SUSWA.

It is essential that SUSWA will integrate HRBA/GEDSI strategies and action plans in all plans and manuals as well as in the manual for step-by-step process for water supply schemes for ensuring systematic, inclusive planning and implementation processes at local levels. The integrated strategies, action plans, and manual(s) should be based besides on the existing materials and lessons learnt of the RWSSP-WN and RVWRMP, also on baseline study results on unreached population and marginalised groups in the project area (conducted in the inception period) as well as on the fact that SUSWA’s focus is slightly different compared to the previous projects. During the inception period SUSWA prepared a desk review covering gender, social inclusion and disability for developing a Nepal and Karnali specific strategy for addressing inequality and exclusion in project implementation. During the implementation of SUSWA, further studies analysing the norms and root causes of discriminatory practices will be conducted to monitor progress towards transformative change. Through implementation and adoption of the strategy, an environment, in which all community members including women, disadvantaged castes, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and other socially excluded have equitable opportunities to pursue their right to water and sanitation can be created. SUSWA must also integrate HRBA/GEDSI in the local government’s planning cycle by ensuring inclusive planning at all levels. Similarly, advocacy and all types of awareness raising to change attitudes and behaviour are continuously necessary. 

SUSWA will focus on strengthening the human rights/social model of disability, which stresses the role of duty bearers and authorities to take measures to remove all barriers (physical, social communication related) to ensure that persons with disabilities, including from rural areas and indigenous or Dalit backgrounds have access to human rights and basic services as well as equal participation. For the purposes of SUSWA , the project adopts a functional capacity approach by which it can approach the concept of disability by identifying persons that have serious limitations in their physical and sensory or self-care related functioning capacity using the Washington Group questionnaire.

The shifting focus from building new schemes to repair/rehabilitation/reconstruction can bring different challenges when considering social inclusion. Attention should also be paid on climate change, gender, and marginalised groups nexus, e.g., how climate change will affect quality, functionality and sustainability of WASH and what implications it can have on women and marginalised groups. The intersectionality of gender, disability and caste must be considered by SUSWA throughout implementation, e.g., by providing clear guidelines for inclusion in project manuals. Continuous advocacy and all types of awareness raising to change attitudes and behaviour related to social inclusion issues are also necessary. The checklist in Annex 3 describes the incorporation of human rights in this Project Document.

Building on the Human Rights Based Approach, and in line with Finland’s development policy and international treaties ratified by Nepal, GESI with a focus on disability inclusion and climate resilience are important crosscutting considerations in SUSWA, governing the design and implementation of the project and thus ensuring sustainability and that those most marginalized are included and contribute throughout.

Nepal and Finland have both sanctioned and created national strategies and action plans in line with the Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), as well as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of “Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Gender equality, non-discrimination with a specific focus on persons with disabilities (PwDs), climate resilience, low-emission development and protection of the environment with emphasis on safeguarding biodiversity are crosscutting objectives in Finland’s development      cooperation policy.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland (MFA) encourages integration of these objectives through two main strategies, also applied by the project:

1. Mainstreaming, which means recognizing that cross‐cutting objectives have a central role in human rights‐based reduction of poverty and integrating them at all levels into planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of activities. In addition, this means seeking opportunities to promote positive change and policy dialogue and influencing, integrating the objectives into discussions and communications at all levels.
2. Undertaking targeted actions, supplementing the above with separate activities if mainstreaming alone does not bring about sufficient impacts.

The cross-cutting objectives in SUSWA will be integrated and mainstreamed throughout the project: as part of all output areas and each stage of the project. The cross-cutting objectives, as well as the intersectionality of gender equality, disability inclusion and climate resilience require consideration at every level, from training and guidelines provided to the PSU, Municipalities and WUSCs, with policy dialogue being carried out at local government level but also at provincial, national and international level. The WUSCs will in particular be a gateway for mainstreaming SUSWA’s cross-cutting objectives at scheme and user level, with the WSP+++ also functioning as a specific tool for targeting both climate resilience and inclusion.

Further, it is recognized that ‘inclusive targeting’ is required if women, people with disabilities, poor and other groups in disadvantaged position are to gain equitable access to resources, services and opportunities, as well as to ensure climate resilience of water sources and communities’ water supply. Further, targeted activities are required for specific needs that prevent well-being and inclusivity of all, such as harmful practices related to menstrual taboos and disability. Therefore, there are outputs and indicators specifically targeting cross-cutting objectives, e.g., output 1.4 on gender and disability-responsive laws, plans and budgets, output 3.3 on DMM and Chhaupadi (see more in chapter 5.3). SUSWA’s cross-cutting objectives will be furthered especially through networks formed under outcome area 1, with Gender Equality (GE), disability, CCA and DRR to be covered by the strategic partnerships and initiatives between SUSWA supported WASH programme and other actors working in Karnali province.