Water for Women - Bhutan

Strengthening climate resilience, coping mechanisms, and adaptive capacities for inclusive WASH services in rural Bhutan 

From 2023 to 2024 Water for Women partnered with SNV Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV) and partners to accelerate progress in rural water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) access for 83,999* people. This project was an extension of Beyond the Finish Line (2018 to 2022) which reached 156,145* people. SNV's Water for Women project finished delivery in December 2024.

Partner: SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

Locations: Dagana, Trashigang and Zhemgang Districts, Bhutan

Focus areas: Rural water services, small-town safely managed sanitation and hygiene, governance and systems strengthening

SNV leveraged existing partnerships and government investments in Bhutan’s Water Flagship Programme and district-level engagement to strengthen resilience, coping mechanisms, and adaptive capacities for more inclusive WASH services across the three climatically distinct districts of Dagana, Zhemgang and Trashigang.

Building on achievements in Phase 1 of Water for Women (2018-22), which notably realised 100% sanitation coverage, during the Extension Phase (2023-24) significant progress was made towards climate adaptable, water secure, gender equitable, disability and socially inclusive (GEDSI) decentralised WASH systems and services.

In total, some 240,144 people were reached over the seven years of SNV's project. During the final two year Extension Phase, this included 83,999* gaining improved access to climate-resilient inclusive WASH. An additional 945,336 people indirectly benefitted.

Participants attend a two day review meeting on Self-help Groups (SHG) for Persons with Disabilities in Bumthang. A total of 32 participants including persons with disabilities and caregivers of moderate and severe disabilities from Lhamoizingkha-Dagana, Udzorong-Trashigang, Trong-Zhemgang gathered  to assess the progress and impact of the program supported by SNV, facilitate problem-solving and support and plan and strategise for the future. (SNV Bhutan) 

Extensive capacity-building to sustain gains

• 1,657 mothers reached via 45 health workers who were supported with training to improve their communications, resulting in increased nappy usage (21% to 37%) and burial disposal (2.6% to 7.4%).
• 165 representatives empowered during district-level strategy meetings
• 275 government staff (66 female) trained across all 20 districts and four municipalities, enhancing their capabilities in WASH investment decision-making and monitoring.
• 18 district engineers and technicians (4 female) trained in climate-resilient water safety planning (CR-WSP) processes and climate-resilient rural water scheme (CR-RWS) design, leading to CR-WSP implementation in 30 community water schemes with 996 community members (368 female, two people with disabilities) and formation of 30 Water Users Associations (WUA).
• 8 Water Caretakers (17 female) trained in sustainable water scheme operations across six sub-districts, including in GEDSI, understanding climate risks, driving adaptation measures and climate-resilience building.
• 72 Health Assistants (19 female) from 20 districts trained on the revised Climate-Resilient Water and Sanitation for Health Facility Improvement Tool  (CR WASH FIT), leading to its successful implementation in 284 healthcare facilities.
• Three working groups of people with disabilities formed in three sub-districts including 38 individuals (22 women), and supported with capacity building and increased involvement in community WASH planning and decision-making processes. These groups liaise with rightsholder organisations and service providers to ensure the needs and views of people with disabilities are considered and foster mutual support.
• Eight WASH Gender Equality Measure (WASH-GEM) themes achieved higher improvement scores, including Critical Consciousness, indicating shifts in social and cultural dynamics related to gender awareness, and increased involvement correlates with higher levels of Self-efficacy and other agency-related outcomes.

At the local government level, systems continue to strengthen and also document data on sanitation, hygiene, waste, damage on infrastructures, risk assessments, water yield and more. To centralise all of this data and make informed decisions, planning and monitoring, a national information system was developed and hosted by the Government of Bhutan. (SNV Bhutan)

Strengthened WASH governance and systems for ongoing impact

• Improved skills and systems across two national and nine sub-national agencies, with disaster preparedness scores increased from 2.6 to 3.2
• Spearheaded the development and national adoption of essential guidelines and manuals, ensuring sustained impact.
• Collaborated with Bhutan’s College of Natural Resources and Desuung (national volunteer service) for WASH sector and (WaSIS) development.
• Introduced a multi-stakeholder framework - Actors, Responsibilities, Incentives, Accountability - to enhance post-construction support services.
• Piloted CBM+ and aggregated CBM models across 30 water schemes in the three districts, facilitated by WUAs, by-laws, and climate-resilient water safety plans (CR-WSP).

Cross-sectoral capacity building to deliver sustainable products and services

• Enhanced investments in transparent, GESDI-responsive, climate-sensitive processes for upgrading, constructing, and rehabilitating WASH infrastructure at district and municipal levels.
• Small town sanitation activities, such as in Dagapela municipality, resulted in planned procurement of a cesspool truck, a garbage truck, land for landfill and sludge treatment facilities, construction of accessible public toilets, and workshops reaching 142 participants (49 female) to create urban sanitation demand.
• Developed a water management model tailored for small towns through stakeholder consultations.

• Strengthened supply chains and finance to offer affordable, market-based solutions that address changing consumer needs, climate resilience, and service levels, with a focus on reaching disadvantaged groups.
• Engaged with the private sector in making WASH consumer products and services accessible and affordable, with program district scores improving from 2.4 to 3.1, reflecting enhanced financial sustainability for WASH-related businesses.

 

Read:

Bhutan community reports: climate-resilient WASH facilities

Having declared ODF, ensuring access to water is important. These villagers are doing a water scheme planning walk. Having a water safety plan in every community can assess the current scenario, measure the water yield at the source, and develop an action plan. (SNV Bhutan)

Knowledge, learning and research contributions for continued good practise

• Key studies, including the 2022 climate risk assessment, formative research into household water drinking behaviours, and coping mechanisms, have informed inclusive strategies.
• Evidence and practices for inclusive climate resilience and GEDSI have been documented and shared, including application of the WASH-GEM, with civil society organisations, national/sub-national sectors, and international WASH and water sector actors.

Key outputs included:

• National Guidelines for Sanitation Technology (2023)
• Updated CDH for small towns (2023)
• Spring shed-management guidelines
• Water caretaker training manual (2024)
• CR-WSP guideline (2024)
• Inclusive and CR-RWS service guidelines (2024)

Read:

WASH FIT Programme sees success, local leaders urge more inclusive facilities

Lessons learnt

Sustaining WASH services requires institutional support. While individual Water User Associations (WUAs) may continue operating, their long-term resilience depends on broader management models and local and national government backing. Without institutionalised support, WUAs may struggle to handle major shocks, highlighting the need for continued engagement from policymakers (national/local governments) and WASH stakeholders to ensure sustainability.

Targeting the most marginalised requires clear selection criteria and inclusive planning. While efforts were made to reach marginalised groups, the lack of clear selection criteria for communities’ water schemes may have limited the project's impact. Additionally, implementing climate-resilient water safety plans (CR-WSPs) in only one scheme per community could unintentionally exclude marginalised groups relying on smaller schemes. Future projects should establish transparent selection processes and ensure inclusive planning and engagement to systematically reach and involve all vulnerable populations.

Scheme-based to area-wide approaches enhance equity and sustainability. Moving from a scheme-focused approach to a Gewog-wide or Dzongkhag-wide water management strategy allows for more inclusive planning and ensures that all users, including institutions and marginalised households, are considered. This shift strengthens integration with watershed management, supports institutionalisation of WSPs, and promotes equitable access to water resources.

Institutionalising climate-resilient WSPs requires stronger policy and financial support. While WSPs help improve water quality and system resilience, they must be embedded in policy and budgeting processes to be sustained. Ensuring CR-WSPs are included in the design phase of new schemes, securing external funding for scaling up, and lobbying for mandatory WUA registration can enhance long-term impact. Additionally, linking CR-WSPs with some capital investment planning rather than just action planning can drive financial and technical support from local governments and WASH stakeholders.

Enhance partnership with climate expert organisations. It is important to foster further partnership and engagement with organisations with expertise in climate change and climate resilience and organisations which can support the focus on gender.

Women like Phub Dem are helping to build a climate-resilient and equitable future in rural Bhutan (SNV / Aiden Dockery )

SNV’s projects focus on improving access to equitable and sustainable safely managed sanitation and hygiene services. Climate projections indicate that temperatures and wet season rainfall are increasing in these rural communities, while dry season rainfall is decreasing in Bhutan. Climate hazards – floods, droughts, landslides and glacial lake outburst floods – are already impeding WASH services in the project areas. The most vulnerable people, including women, girls, people with disabilities and those that live in remote areas, will likely face the highest burden from climate change impacts.

Looking ahead

Climate change is already impacting the functionality of WASH systems in Bhutan, undermining important gains and widening inequalities. The Royal Government of Bhutan’s Water Flagship Programme invested significantly in water infrastructure in the past Five-Year Plan, which if strengthened by a commensurate focus on post-construction support presents a substantial opportunity to ensure rural WASH services for the nation and achieve Sustainable Development Goals. There also remains a disconnect between water resource management and rural water services. Post construction support and professionalising services, while developed in the Extension Phase, remains at a small scale. As demonstrated in Phase 1, taking pilots to scale is possible with long-term engagement and partnerships. With DFATs support, first in 2010, then 2014 onwards, this enabled inclusive and sustainable approaches to sanitation and hygiene to be developed, tested and scaled, which transformed the sanitation and hygiene sector in the country. Sustaining these climate-resilient inclusive WASH services requires institutional support.

In partnership with the Department of Water, Department of Infrastructure Development and CSOs, SNV successfully developed appropriate community-based management PLUS models within three districts (including with additional DFAT Post support); 30 WUAs were formed and have fostered local awareness of their water systems, rebuilding ownership post the Water Flagship Programme investments, clarifying roles and responsibilities and promoting resource mobilisation to bring positive impacts and enable communities to manage their resources more sustainably. The technical training/capacity building of district engineers in designing water systems that incorporate climate-resilient and GEDSI aspects also supports reduced dependencies on central level agencies while at the same time providing more time for central agencies to provide targeted technical backstopping.

The project’s implementation in the sub-districts of three districts and strengthening of capacities at central levels has laid the groundwork to progress to area-wide (district-wide) approaches or a nationwide approach.

Bhutan's location in the fragile ecosystems of the Himalayas makes it highly vulnerable to climate change (SNV Bhutan / Upasana Dahal of Oopz Production)

Feature photo: SNV Bhutan

*Phase 1 beneficiaries were calculated from those who achieved WASH access. Extension Phase beneficiaries were calculated from those who achieved WASH access as well as climate change outcomes. Totals were determined based on outcomes reported by individual projects. See Our Impact.