Supporting Bhutan to become 100% open-defecation free

Cover including thumbnail image of this report featuring a country celebration of Bhutan achieving 100% open defecation free

Pathways taken by a four-year project in Bhutan in support of the government’s sanitation and hygiene priorities. Completed in 2022, the project impacted the lives of 30% of Bhutan’s population.

Research partner, International Water Management Institute has introduced a Participatory Gender Workshop Manual in Dailekh and Sarlahi, Nepal. Implemented in collaboration with local partners Everest Club in Dailekh district and the Bagmati Welfare Society in Sarlahi district, the manual can be used to stimulate discussions among communities and governmental or non-governmental organisations, and stakeholders working in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector on gender norms, roles and relations in community and project areas.

Abstract

In November 2022, the Government of Bhutan officially proclaimed the country to have achieved 100% open-defecation-free status.

This brief presents the salient contributions made by a four-year SNV project with partners (2018-22) across eight districts in Bhutan. It offers examples of the partnership’s contributions in securing Bhutan’s ODF achievement and the development of the country’s post-ODF strategy roadmap. Behind this success are the political leadership embodied by the country’s government, and an achievement built on 15 years of collaborative work.

As Bhutan enters its next phase of sanitation development, the brief contends that climate-resilient programming is a must, particularly insofar as this pertains to operationalising the country’s post-ODF roadmap. It also suggests the need to create synergy between WASH services, water security commitments, and the national climate change agenda.

You can learn more about this journey here: The quest for safely managed sanitation for all in Bhutan.

View or download

Learn more about SNV's continuing work in Bhutan under the extension phase of Water for Women.

Towards Climate-Resilient Inclusive WASH Services in Rural Bhutan

Institutional arrangements

Knowledge and Learning is central to Water for Women. It is a key priority of all partners and positions the Fund as an important contributor to global knowledge development and sharing in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector. Fund generated evidence, centred on innovative, climate-resilient and gender and socially inclusive WASH, supports partners to program for long-term impact. It also provides the basis to influence sector-wide development policy and practice globally, particularly around these cross-cutting themes.

Continual reflection, collaborative learning, knowledge development and exchange are important elements of Water for Women, which combined with effective programming, support partners to lead practice globally and raise the bar on climate-resilient, gender and socially inclusive WASH research, analysis, design and program delivery.

In the first phase of Water for Women (2018-2022), our civil society organisation and research partners developed and shared a wealth of resources through their projects. You can explore a selection of these resource highlights here, and how they link to the building blocks for climate-resilient WASH, drawn from our report, Knowledge and Practice Gaps in Climate Resilient Inclusive WASH.