Action Research Project on Community Women’s Rights and Access to Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) in Delhi’s Resettlement Colonies
A joint initiative of JAGORI, Women in International Cities, Canada and Action India, supported by IDRC, Canada
The working-class in Delhi have been subject to a systematic process of dispossession and impoverishment since the last three to four decades through forcible eviction from slums in Delhi and relocated to the periphery of the city. As most of the residents worked in the informal sector, the relocation to colonies such as Bawana moved them away from the larger economic activities of the city making it impossible for them to even earn a sustainable livelihood.
In order to understand the impact of eviction on people’s livelihoods, action research has been undertaken in Bawana since 2004. Findings have noted the abysmal situation of water supply in the area and that the burden of filling water falls on women and young girls (Menon-Sen Kalyani and Gautam Bhan, 2008. Swept off the Map. Surviving Eviction and Resettlement in Delhi. New Delhi: Yoda Press and Jagori). In addition, in spite of paying for toilet usage, the toilets are poorly maintained and are inadequate in number. In 2008, sanitation problems emerged as one of the key problems faced by community women.
For details see http://jagori.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/public-hearing-sanitation.ppt
The issues were taken up with local government agencies and politician, but yielded no results. WATSAN issues are also linked to safety due to the lack of proper toilets and water facilities. This has been one of the focus issues of a larger study on Safety of Women in Urban Spaces undertaken by Jagori in 2005-2006. (http://jagori.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/is-this-our-city.pdf)
JAGORI’s Action Research Project on Community Women’s Rights and Access to Water and Sanitation in Delhi’s Resettlement Colonies is in partnership with Action India (www.actionindiaworld.org) and was initiated in March 2009. The two field sites are Bawana and Bhalaswa. The focus of the project is to address the ‘gender service gap’ in water, sanitation, hygiene, solid waste management and drainage. We propose to deepen the understanding of how poverty, tenure, water access and sanitation, and lack of access to other services, impact women’s lives, livelihoods and well-being in the target communities.
Participation of the community women and youth is integral to this process. Community women are part of the core team which is identifying the problems, discussing the action research methods, monitoring, documenting and involved in the planning. To date, mapping of basic services have been undertaken to develop a nuanced perspective on the services provided in different areas of the communities. Focus Group Discussions have been undertaken with women and men, to identify the significant WATSAN issues espcially as they affect women’s lives was through Focus Group Discussions (FGDs). The Women’s Safety Audit Methodology (WSA) has been adapted to further identify problems pertaining to women’s safety, security and access and to initiate a process of engaging resettled women with their local government agencies, other representatives in their communities, and other partners. The focus of the next stage is to build women’s leadership capacities on governance so as to negotiate with local government, service providers to explore, discuss and evolve effective mechanisms that can also be ‘used’ or ‘tested’ in this action research project.
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