Capacity building for urban sanitation development. Background report II. Gender and poor inclusive approaches to urban sanitation planning and development

In 2009 gender specialists were asked to review the current Indonesia Sanitation Sector Development Program (ISSDP) activities. On the basis of these findings a gender strategy was developed for inclusion in the sanitation awareness campaigns and city sanitation strategies in Indonesia. It lists conclusions and recommendations. This is the full report published as background report II in Capacity Building for Urban Sanitation Development. Some of the conclusions were: Gender equality can be strengthened in the national communication strategy and campaigns; Poor women seem to buy water mainly for drinking and cooking and were concerned about the financial implications of higher water consumption. The financial responsibilities of male heads of households for financing of safe water are however not addressed;  In contrast, the sanitation awareness campaign addresses only men. It does not recognize household couples as the unit of complementary male and female responsibilities and decision-making for a safe environment; The draft pro-poor strategy has a similar absence of men from promoting domestic hygiene and women from public decision-making. Some of the recommendations included: In the Hand Washing Campaign it is recommended to include special messages and sessions for men addressing their responsibilities for financing the means to practice safe hand washing and include gender in media scenes, audios and support materials. Impact measurement should preferably compare effectiveness and costs of interventions; Suggestions to adjust the National Sanitation Awareness Campaign are to have the couple as decision-makers on sanitation, including on the community dimensions, to tailor activities and materials also to the conditions and needs of the poor, and to link information and promotion to community pilots such as Community-Led Total Sanitation, participatory learning and action planning and community-managed monitoring; Gender images in the media should go beyond stereotypes of women doing the sanitation work in the households and men making the decisions at domestic and community level; Informed choices on upgradeable technologies and designs with costs and other implications should be given to men and women heads of households; The position of single women deserves special attention in media campaigns and in linkages with poverty alleviation in city pilots.