Towards Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI)-responsive WASH systems strengthening

Display title

Strapline

GESI responsive WASH Systems Strengthening

Node read time

5 minutes

Resource type

Learning paper

Listing introduction text

Practical steps for building more gender equitable and inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene systems.

Page introduction

Practical steps for building more gender equitable and inclusive water, sanitation and hygiene systems.

Member

Riva Global

Location

International

Theme

Gender and social inclusion

RIVA Authors

Author role

Primary Author

RIVA author profile link

Ruchika Shiva

Language English

Surname

Shiva

Member

Riva Asia

RIVA role

Director

Job description

Director, Global Hub and Asia Hub (Regional Programme)

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Listing introduction

Ruchika helps close the gap between what government systems promise and what communities actually receive: by building better evidence, strengthening governance, and designing services with the people most likely to be left out.

Ruchika Shiva came to her work through the people that public services most often miss. Before joining Riva, she worked on rights of children in difficult circumstances, including street children in Delhi and ran advocacy campaigns on girls' right to education. That background gave her a conviction that ripples through all of her work: a system that doesn’t reach everyone isn’t finished yet.

Ruchika works with the governments and institutions that deliver essential services – village councils deciding how to allocate and spent water budgets, city utilities trying to reach informal settlements, state governments understanding where money flows through their systems and where it stops. She helps them close the gap between what their systems promise and what communities actually receive: by building better evidence, strengthening governance, and designing services with the people most likely to be left out.

Nineteen years working in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia have given Ruchika a deep understanding of how this region's institutions work – and where they fail. She firmly believes that the first question we should ask is: who is this system designed for? Ruchika’s 2025 paper on gender equity and social inclusion, now a WASH Systems Academy course, has shifted how practitioners across six countries work. She holds an MA in Social Work from Delhi University, is fluent in English and Hindi, and is based in Delhi.

A few highlights

19 years in development; 11 years leading Riva's Asia programme across India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia
Systems leadership for water-secure cities – Water4Change programme with city governments in Bhopal, Bhuj and Kozhikode
Climate resilience and institutional strengthening in four climate hotspots in Bangladesh, in partnership with BRAC, supported by the Dutch Embassy
Lead for gender equity and social inclusion across the FCDO WASH Systems for Health programme in six countries
Co-author of the 2025 learning note on GESI-responsive systems strengthening which is also the basis for a WASH Systems Academy course
Working languages: English and Hindi

Profile quote

Ruchika Shiva, Director Global Hub and Asia Hub ( regional programme)

First name

Ruchika

Author role

Secondary Author

RIVA author profile link

Shiny Saha

Language English

Surname

Saha

Member

Riva Asia

RIVA role

Expert

Job description

Programme officer

Featured image

Listing introduction

Shiny's work has shown that when gender equity and social inclusion are built into the DNA of water, sanitation and hygiene systems, reforms not only endure but reshape the way citizens experience governance.

Shiny Saha believes that transformation in public services begins when governments and communities see equity not as an add-on, but as the foundation of lasting systems. Over more than a decade, she has returned to the same question: how do we design structures that make inclusion non-negotiable? Her work has shown that when gender equity and social inclusion are built into the DNA of water, sanitation and hygiene systems, reforms not only endure but reshape the way citizens experience governance.

At Riva, Shiny equips stakeholders with the tools to strengthen water, sanitation and hygiene systems in ways that last. She works with government officials, local government representatives, and grassroots organisations to identify bottlenecks, design accountability frameworks, and embed inclusive practices into national and regional strategies. Her focus has been to integrate gender equity into system design, helping institutions move beyond service delivery to create structures that citizens can trust.

Shiny combines deep research expertise with hands-on programme management. She has built capacity for grassroots NGOs, coordinated multi-agency collaborations, authored frameworks for incorporation of Gender Equity and Social Inclusion, and developed approaches to monitor hygiene behaviour. Her distinctive strength lies in bridging the worlds of policy and practice — sparking change while co-creating systems that endure.

Highlights

15+ years of experience in Asia, with country work in India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka
Works with governments, civil society, and international partners
Coordinates the Agenda for Change India chapter, aligning multiple global organizations
Designed frameworks to integrate Gender Equity and Social Inclusion into WASH system strengthening
Co-author of the 2025 learning note on GESI-responsive systems strengthening; 2022 Hand Hygiene monitoring framework for India
Published on equity, women’s work in the informal economy, governance, and evaluation
Holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. Completed Term 1 A of a Master’s in Development Studies from the International Institute of Social Sciences, Erasmus University Rotterdam
Fluent in English, Hindi, and Bengali

LinkedIn link

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shiny-s-22298511

Profile quote

Shiny Saha

First name

Shiny

Publisher

IRC

Page sections

content

This learning note is a product of the FCDO WASH Systems for Health programme aimed at supporting governments in six countries to strengthen WASH systems. This learning note is focused on articulating practical steps to building more gender equitable and inclusive WASH systems. It is part of a series of research and learning outputs from the programme focused on building more inclusive, resilient and safe WASH services.

Title

Towards Gender Equity and Social Inclusion (GESI)-responsive WASH systems strengthening

Downloadable documents

Document

2025_learning_note_-_towards_gesi_responsive_wash_systems_strengthening_1.pdf (2.77 MB)