Water, sanitation and hygiene in Federal Nepal: strengthening local government actions and citizen rights
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International Water Management Institute
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Nepal’s 2015 Constitution, federal governance system, and commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer important opportunities for bottom-up, participatory, and rights-based development of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector. However, the effects of these reforms on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in local WASH planning and decision-making remain poorly understood. This study examined six dimensions of change under federalism—policy frameworks; division of powers; actors, roles, and financing; WASH services; coordination and data; and GESI in governance—to assess how rights and inclusion are translated into practice.
The research covered six rural municipalities in Madhesh, Bagmati, Lumbini, and Karnali provinces, using household surveys of 486 households, key informant interviews, and reviews of national and subnational policies and WASH literature. Findings show that constitutional guarantees and recent policies, including the National WASH Policy (2023) and the draft WASH Sector Development Plan (2024), create space for GESI-responsive WASH. However, they do not adequately address systemic barriers that limit the meaningful participation and benefits of women, people with disabilities, and marginalized groups.
At the local level, WASH plans, budgets, coordination mechanisms, and gender-disaggregated data systems remain weak, while service delivery is dominated by technical approaches. Access to safe, piped water is still low, placing a disproportionate burden on women, and affordability remains a barrier for poorer households. Achieving the SDGs will require stronger gender-responsive local planning, improved financing, empowered user groups, and enhanced local government capacity to deliver inclusive, rights-based WASH services.
Palabras clave
water, sanitation and hygiene, local government, human rights, water supply, policies, frameworks, gender equality, social inclusion, jurisdiction, constitutional law, federalism, governance, public sector, accountability, regulations, decision-making, Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 6 Clean water and sanitation, water resources, drinking water, monitoring and evaluation, learning, development plans, financing, budgets, stakeholders, institutions, water user associations, market access, rural areas, communities, households, socioeconomic aspects, marginalization, caste, ethnicity, toilets, hand hygiene, sludge