This brief shares key findings and insights from the second learning group (2) about strengthening governance for climate-resilient WASH systems.
• WASH sector stakeholders are increasing efforts to strengthen the climate resilience of WASH development globally.
• Integrating climate risk and resilience into WASH governance systems is central to these efforts, but is a new reform area in most settings.
• Many frameworks for climate risk and resilience and WASH governance exist, but most relate to governance functions; few consider climate risk and resilience as part of how governance should be performed.
• Promising practices have emerged from WfW climate-resilient inclusive WASH projects in the Asia-Pacific region; they can guide integration of climate risk and resilience into inclusive WASH governance systems.

Water for Women (WfW) is unique in its role as an implementation and research fund that contributes to local, regional and global understanding of best practice in climate-resilient inclusive development. During the 2023–24 extension period, drawing on learnings from the implementation of climate-resilient and inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) projects and research across the Asia-Pacific region, WfW partners sought to explore a fundamental learning question: What does climate-resilient inclusive WASH development look like?
In exploring this question, three dedicated learning groups considered:
1. How do WASH programs commonly understand climate risk and resilience? How can this be further developed to better inform the design of WASH interventions?
2. How do WASH governance systems commonly integrate climate risk and resilience? What lessons from promising practices can we share to support strengthened climate risk integration?
3. Why and how is gender equality, disability and social inclusion critical to climate-resilient WASH?

Bibliographic information

Water for Women (2025). Strengthening Governance for Climate-Resilient WASH Systems Water for Women

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