2019 is off and rolling, and moving into the new year, common threads – inclusion, participation, gender equality – are featuring high on the global sustainable development agenda; WIN’s theme this year is Gender and Water Integrity, the programme for World Water Week 2019 will revolve around Water for society – Including all, and International Women’s Day 2019’s topic is Think equal, build smart, innovate for change. Under these key themes, see some of the most compelling stories and resources that emerged across the web in the last few weeks. Add your highlights in the comments field.
The links go to the websites of origin. WIN is not responsible for the accuracy of external content.
Global – Female-friendly public and community toilets: a guide for planners and decision makers
The new guide produced by WaterAid, unicef, and Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) sets out to improve understanding of the requirements of women and girls using public and community toilets. Aimed at, amongst others, local authorities in towns and cities in charge of public and community toilets, national governments, public and private service providers, and civil society organisations (CSOs), it focuses on public and community toilets in urban contexts.
The guide includes case studies from India, South Africa, Bangladesh, and Kenya, examples of female-friendly toilet layouts, practical methods for assessing and addressing gaps, and a list of useful resources.
Download the guide via WaterAid.
Uganda – Bottom-up Accountability of Health Care Providers in Uganda
Innovations for Poverty Action, with UK Aid and GOAL Uganda, have published a new policy brief on the large-scale randomized evaluation of the Accountability Can Transform (ACT) Health programme, implemented by a consortium of CSOs coordinated by GOAL Uganda. The programme’s aim is to overcome poor health service delivery through the bottom-up monitoring of service providers by community members. ACT revolves around providing citizens with information about service delivery shortfalls, as well as comparative information on national standards and outcomes in other communities, to allow them to monitor and apply pressure on underperforming service providers.
The evaluation, conducted approximately 20 months after programme commencement, highlights key findings, challenges, and more, that indicate a change in approach may be in order.
Download the brief via Innovations for Poverty Action.
Brazil – What are we learning about collaborative citizen engagement in anticorruption?
In 2014, against the backdrop of Operation Car Wash, researches started looking into the politics of systemic anticorruption change in Brazil. In their findings, they have highlighted the vital role multi-stakeholder action plays in the fights against corruption on a mid to long-term basis.
‘Civil society was experimenting with state agencies. State agencies were experimenting and learning themselves, too […] Agents – more visible champions and their allies across the state and society – have been learning to navigate the politics, legal and technical aspects of reform, all at once. A shift from short-term ad-hoc wins to sustainable results at scale required moving beyond a narrow conceptualization of civil society engagement to a bet on collective action and coproduction of anticorruption’.
Read the full article via GPSA Knowledge Platform.
Sweden/Global – Be a #WaterWomen speaker
Striving for an equal representation of women and men at World Water Week 2019, SIWI is seeking women water professionals to join the #WaterWomen speakers directory to connect convenors with experienced speakers. Join the list of women water professionals, and let other members of the water sector know your availability!
Sign up via the World Water Week Website.
Mali – In the Sahel, pastoralists rely on satellites to search for water
Mobile phones and access to geo-satellite data have transformed the way pastoralists in the Sahel (Mali) make informed decisions on where to lead their livestock in the search for freshwater. In the region, effects of climate change come in the form of more frequent droughts, increasing the scarcity of freshwater points. 21,000 pastoralists now use the Garbal mobile service – owned and operated by Orange Mali – to access real-time satellite imagery that provides information on water and vegetation cover, making their journeys with livestock much quicker and more direct.
Read the full article via the UN Environment Programme.
Photo: EU Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 via Flickr