Mid Term Evaluation of Strengthening Community-Cantered and Gender Responsive Provisioning and Use of Sanitation Services Among Slum Dwellers in Delhi

Aims & Objectives: This project undertook a midterm evaluation of the awareness-building intervention on sanitation, water and hygiene initiated by CFAR in collaboration with the Convergence Mission of Delhi Government for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The initiative began in June 2012 to generate awareness among the women and girls in the selected clusters on water, health, sanitation, hygiene, sewerage, and garbage disposal.

Methodology: The evaluation study focused on 18 location clusters and covered a total of 1361 households. Moreover, several focused group discussions were conducted and by covering at least one half of the households surveyed for the baseline; the evaluation study examined the changes over time.

Findings: The principal findings were:

• The quality of sanitation services, water supply and hygiene in urban localities pre- dominantly housing the poor, requires substantial improvement;
• A large number of these under-served slum settlements are unauthorized and therefore, there is little community awareness about the means through which residents can express their grievances and concerns;
• The multiple authorities that operate in isolation in these areas are often not prepared to engage with the population living in these peripheral regions of the city;
• Overall, access to water and knowledge regarding water storage and cleanliness has improved over the intervention period;
• During the intervention period, women’s groups have become more proactive in demanding improved sanitation and access to sanitation has improved;
• In the post-intervention period, there are better garbage storage practices within the community and
• Over the intervention period, the use of sanitary napkins increased drastically due to higher literacy, awareness and availability.