Dated 8th January, 2025
There are multiple factors behind poor management of climate resilient WASH services in urban slums. Despite all such challenges, there are instances of remarkable achievement which demonstrates the potential of possible improvement in WASH services in urban slums with equity and inclusiveness by integrating GEDSI approaches. The changes are the results of collaborative efforts of many stakeholders covering the government authorities, the community and their collectives, NGOs, agencies providing technology-driven services and UN agencies like UNICEF and UNFPA. Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) played a critical role in catalyzing the changes by working with the community in selected wards in Bhubaneswar and Jaipur from the year 2018. SIGMA Foundation has documented such good practices which aim to understand what strategies were successful in addressing WASH challenges in urban slum settings of Bhubaneswar and Jaipur. The documentation also captures the enabling factors behind the success, the preparatory steps for appropriately designing the strategy and the processes followed to trigger and sustain changes.
The documentation required a comprehensive understanding of WASH-related challenges in the context of climate change and environmental sustainability and dynamics of the urban slum communities by going through secondary literatures and collecting primary data, mostly qualitative from the said two cities. The stakeholders were identified by the field teams of CFAR and they also assisted to prepare the micro-planning for collecting data. Semi-structured FGD and discussion points for KIIs were prepared by team of SIGMA Foundation in consultation with the team of CFAR. Qualitative data was collected from nine different categories of stakeholders. Total 15 FGDs and 44 KIIs were conducted in the two cities. Several PRA exercises were also carried out along with transect walk around the WASH facilities and the slums by the study team. The data was analysed to compile a report, which was submitted to CFAR based on the data.
The documentation has brought out the processes which evolved in the journey of the community members from being a passive recipient of services which was of quality far below the prescribed standard to being a co-owner of the infrastructure and the services, which they planned together with the service delivery authorities and implemented together to meet their needs. One critical process that was followed in the journey was inclusiveness of all members of the community by ensuring participation of women, differently abled, aged, the most marginalized and the trans-gender communities who had different requirements, organizing their collectives at community and Ward level and empowering them to sustain the service deliveries.
