ResilienTogether: How Climate-Resilient Inclusive WASH Contributes to Climate Resilience

Blue graphic featuring the cover of this learning brief featuring an illustration of the world globe showing the Asia Pacifc region drawn from and circled by colourful threads

The impacts of climate change are compounding, particularly for women, people with disabilities and other marginalised groups, which means that increasing climate resilience, that is, the ability to identify, mitigate and adapt to climate risks, has become more urgent.

This is why Water for Women focused its research and implementation work on the nexus of gender equality, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI), water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), and climate resilience. Over the past seven years (2018 to 2024), Water for Women partners have built an evidence base demonstrating pathways to climate resilience through inclusive WASH.

Under Water for Women’s collaborative Learning Agenda, partners identified, beyond definitions, what ‘climate resilient inclusive WASH’ actually looks like. This learning brief forms part of the series that delves into the broad question of what climate-resilient inclusive WASH development looks like. This brief aims to contribute to answering Water for Women’s learning question: How does climate-resilient inclusive WASH contribute to climate resilience?

The evidence base from research and the implementation of WASH projects in 16 Asia Pacific countries indicated that inclusive WASH not only improves the resilience of WASH systems to climate impacts but also supports communities to better manage and reduce other risks in areas such as health, livelihoods, agriculture, disaster risk reduction (DRR) and natural resource management.

Who is it for?

This learning brief is intended to support WASH and wider development sector actors and partners to better understand how climate-resilient inclusive WASH contributes to climate resilience.

A thumbnail of the cover of this brief featuring an illustration of the world globe showing the Asia-Pacfic region surrounded by colourful threads

In brief

Investing in inclusive WASH results in increases to community resilience through direct positive impacts on health, community empowerment, environment and access to infrastructure.
Inclusive WASH also contributes to climate resilience by targeting information, governance andinstitutional, socioeconomic and environmental barriers which improve community capacity to manage risks beyond WASH-related risks.
While the link between WASH and climate resilience is increasingly clear, definitions and indicators for climate resilience for the WASH sector and more broadly are still developing and evolving.

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Citation: Water for Women. (2025). Resilientogether: How Climate-Resilient Inclusive WASH Contributes to Climate Resilience. https://www.waterforwomenfund.org/en/news/resilientogether-how-climate-resilient-inclusive-wash-contributes-to-climate-resilience.aspx

Water for Women would like to thank all partners for their engagement and hard work in delivering projects and supporting the Learning Agenda. Water for Women partners’ skills, expertise and dedication to collaboration and exchange shaped Water for Women’s contribution to regional and global understanding of policy and practice in climate-resilient, inclusive development.

Water for Women acknowledges the Australian Government’s support via the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in providing funding to our partners to support climate-resilient, inclusive WASH projects and research across the region and sharing valuable inputs through this learning brief.