From Sandhya Venkateswaran, UNICEF, New Delhi
Increasing attention is being given to India’s journey on a high growth path and the simultaneous exclusion of some communities from the processes and benefits of this development. UNICEF, in its current Country Programme, has decided to explicitly focus on reducing social exclusion. Under this, it aims to understand and address the underlying processes that result in economic and social deprivations, so that the services reach and benefit the most marginalized. While blanket programmes are good to reach the entire country, they usually leave out migrants, SC/STs, Dalits and also often fail to satisfy the needs of women.
UNICEF wants to identify specific instruments, methodologies or strategies that can help development practitioners understand and address the causes of exclusion. The barriers to inclusion prevent marginalized groups from participating in and benefiting from policy formulation, programme planning and design, its implementation and monitoring, and include Knowledge/information, access to water and sanitation services, appropriate investments in social and environmental resources, discriminatory attitudes that prevent participation in decision- making, and an absence of agency, empowerment and voice.
UNICEF, in collaboration with the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights (NCDHR), Centre for Social Equity and Inclusion (CSEI), Association for Stimulating Knowhow (ASK), Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN) and Praxis Institute for Participatory Practices, is in the process of identifying tools or instruments to understand and address reasons for exclusion from water and sanitation services. For example, what tools or methods can be used to ensure that water and sanitation services meet the needs of SC/STs, migrants and other groups, and reduce the burden on women.
These tools could include specific instruments such as social equity audits, infrastructure equity audits, budget analyses, participatory assessments, and tools for training on inclusion.
In the context of the above, we would like to identify tools/instruments/strategies that you may have used to:
- Assess the degree, context and nature of exclusion (who is excluded, the processes that cause exclusion, impacts of exclusion) of specific community groups from water and sanitation services
- Enable the participation of marginalized groups in water resource management, by addressing the barriers in planning, programme/policy design, implementation and monitoring
We would request you to include details of the tool including its description, type, context/applicability of use (under which conditions and with which groups), and purpose. The tools/methodologies gathered through this process will inform the development of UNICEF’s next Country Programme strategy and facilitate a strong focus on inclusion.
Download the below attachment for response