On the 20th and 21st of March 2006, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) together with the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), The Global Rainwater Harvesting Collective (GRWHC), WaterAid India and UNICEF India are organising a workshop with the theme 'Women and Sanitation', at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in New Delhi, India.

The workshop is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Kamla Chowdhry, founder of Vikram Sarabhai Foundation, who worked passionately for women's rights and empowerment and was closely involved in the preliminary development of the workshops design.

If despite years of effort "sanitation and safe water for all" remain a distant goal, one reason is the low priority given to consulting and involving women. Coinciding with the International Sanitation and Hygiene Week from 15 to 21 March, the workshop will bring to the fore some key issues of women's participation and inclusion in sanitation and water programmes, through analysis of in-depth case studies and presentations by women leaders in the water and sanitation sector, from local, state and national levels. The workshop will bring together sector professionals, women activists and decision makers from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The anticipated outcome of the workshop is an agenda for action both for government and civil society towards sanitation policies and actions at the community level, with particular reference to the needs, strengths and involvement of women. The workshop will recommend key policy change towards strengthening the role of women as well as men to take doable and practical steps for a gender sensitive approach to water, sanitation and hygiene, for a better health and development of women and children in India and other parts of South Asia.

The workshop will thus combine policy advocacy with developing an action plan with concrete activities for the partner organizations.  The work content will focus on 3 major dimensions: rural sanitation, urban sanitation and school sanitation.