SAWASI-AIWASI

THE SAWASI AND AIWASI CONNECTION

The South Asia Water Security Initiative (SAWASI) program focuses on improving access to safe water and sanitation in urban areas in the South Asia region. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, has supported SAWASI with a commitment of 20 million Australian Dollars. SAWASI aims at strengthening South Asian city-level water governance by (a) supporting governments to provide urban water services and (b) improving water security for disadvantaged communities in India and Pakistan. The program has three components:

Component A: Community-level Demonstration Project (CDP)
The India specific CDP component is known as AIWASI CDP. The goal of the CDP is to improve water security for four disadvantaged communities – two communities each in India and Pakistan by implementing pilot Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) solutions through participatory engagement and joint accountability mechanism. This will elevate community resilience through Water Sensitive Cities (WSC) and GEDSI (Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion) principles.

Component B: Workshops
SAWASI includes learning workshops to bring urban water experts together and initiate a dialogue. These workshops will be organized at the city level (City Water Forum) and regional level (Regional Water Forum). The workshops will entail learnings from CDPs and bring in Australian expertise in WSC and urban water resource management.

Component C: Demand-driven Government-to-Government Technical Assistance (TA)
SAWASI also includes demand-driven TA for governments to address key urban water management related issues. The TA will help build local capacity and ensure the involvement of the highest levels of government to address these issues.