Water resource management
Water resource management involves the strategic planning, development, and allocation of water resources to ensure their sustainable and equitable use in a given area or community. Many people with disabilities require significantly greater amounts of water use to meet their basic sanitation and hygiene needs, yet are often not provided this during water shortages. Sustainable and inclusive water resource management that considers the needs of people with disabilities is essential for ensuring that availability and access to water is equitable.
Resources in this section provide evidence and guidance on inclusive water resource management.
Water for Women (2025) Hardwiring Accessibility: Measuring What Matters for and by People with Disabilities
This brief shares lessons on advancing accessibility in WASH services and systems, drawn from the experience of Water for Women partners across Asia-Pacific during the past seven years.
Water for Women (2024) The Criticality of GEDSI for Climate-Resilient WASH
This learning brief shares key findings and insights from the third learning group about the criticality of gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) for climate-resilient inclusive WASH.
Water for Women (2024) What Does Climate-Resilient Inclusive WASH Look Like? Insights from Water for Women
Under our collaborative Learning Agenda 2023-24, drawing on learnings from the implementation of climate-resilient and inclusive WASH projects and research across Asia–Pacific, partners sought to explore this fundamental learning question through a series of dedicated initiatives.
Water for Women (2022) Leaving No One Behind: Experiences from Water for Women
This report is based on a methodology in which CSOs’ LNOB approaches were collated, shared, and used to facilitate participatory engagement for peer-to-peer learning between CSOs to deepen understanding and improve practice.
Water for Women (2022) Leaving No One Behind: Summary of lessons from Water for Women
As part of a dedicated initiative under Water for Women’s Learning Agenda, insights on LNOB approaches from CSO implemented projects are captured in a detailed report and summarised here.
Water for Women (2022) Shifting Social Norms for Transformative WASH: Review of Concepts, Literature and Practice
This review, along with the allied guidance, is intended to support WASH actors with relevant examples of how to change harmful and exclusionary social norms in the context of WASH programming.
Water for Women (2021) Making the Critical Connections between Climate Resilience and Inclusive WASH: Lessons from Water for Women
This report features 12 vignettes from Water for Women partners working on projects in the Asia-Pacific that are helping to build climate resilience through inclusive and sustainable WASH programs and research.
Read more about Water for Women (2020) Disability inclusion and COVID-19: Guidance for WASH delivery
Water for Women (2020) Disability inclusion and COVID-19: Guidance for WASH delivery
Developed by Water for Women and CBM Australia to provide some key principles, considerations and actions which Water for Women Fund partners, and the WASH sector more broadly, can apply to strengthen disability inclusion in their COVID-19 programming responses and adaptations.
Water for Women (2019) Disability Inclusive Systems Strengthening in WASH: How can we do it better?
This Learning Brief aims to advance the Fund’s collective learning on these issues by reflecting on the discussions throughout the Systems Strengthening for Inclusive WASH learning event held in December 2019 in Nepal.
World Bank (2017) Including persons with disabilities in water sector operations: a guidance note
The note collates recommended strategies and practices in disability-inclusive development programming.
Wahid S et. al (2024) Gender equality, disability and social inclusion in water modelling
Sustainable water management can benefit from Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) concepts.
FAO (2023) Applying gender equality, disability, and social inclusion principles in agricultural water resources management
Water resources management, although rooted in technical disciplines such engineering, science, data management, modelling, and hydroeconomics, is fundamentally a realm of social and political interactions.
UN Africa Renewal (2023) Inclusive water systems for persons with disabilities are integral for achieving SDGs
Water viability is an engine of sustainable development for environmental social safeguards and governance. Ensuring its availability for everyone is imperative.
Coultas, M. and Iyer, R. with Myers, J. (2020) Handwashing Compendium for Low Resource Settings: A Living Document
This compendium from the Sanitation Learning Hub at the Institute of Development Studies aims to inform the design of handwashing facilities and hygiene promotion activities, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Water for Women (2022) Shifting Social Norms for Transformative WASH: Guidance for WASH Actors
This guidance note refers to social norm change in, and through, WASH programs.
Water for Women (2022) Partnerships for Transformation: Guidance for WASH and Rights Holder Organisations
This guidance provides practical recommendations for effective collaboration in all types of partnerships.
