Women-Led Output-Based Aid Vietnam
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The Women-Led Output-Based Aid (WOBA) program in Vietnam was a 4.5-year initiative (2018-2022) that aimed to tackle the challenges and inequities in the rural water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector of Vietnam. The program was designed and implemented by Thrive Networks/East Meets West Foundation Vietnam and was supported by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Water for Women Fund.
WOBA Vietnam had two key objectives:
1. Enhancing access to WASH services, particularly among poor and vulnerable rural communities in Vietnam, through a subsidy payment scheme.
2. Promoting gender empowerment and the inclusion of women in WASH service delivery.
In 2021, the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) team undertook a mid-term review of the WOBA Vietnam program, followed by an endline evaluation in 2022. These evaluations primarily focused on evaluating the program's design and the outcomes it achieved, while also examining cross-cutting issues such as social impact, gender equality, results-based financing, and local government structure and governance.
Between 2021 and 2022, the MERL team carried out four research studies that were related to WOBA Vietnam.
The initial research study explored the impact of the distribution of hand washing stations and water tanks, as well as the hygiene promotion activities conducted by the Women's Union, on the knowledge, attitude, and hygiene behavior of households and staff at commune health centers and kindergartens in two rural Vietnamese provinces, namely Ben Tre and Hoa Binh.
The second study focused on evaluating the impact of WOBA Vietnam on gender and social inclusion in remote mountainous districts.
The third study analysed the gender experiences of the Women's Union staff involved in WOBA Vietnam from various perspectives, including political, WASH work and entrepreneurship, community, and households.
The fourth study investigated the financial risks faced by private sector WASH businesses in the context of the WOBA project, as well as in Vietnam's broader WASH markets.
This website serves as a platform for sharing reports, policy briefs, and learning notes that were generated from the evaluation and research studies. The aim is to disseminate the findings and recommendations that have emerged from these studies, with the goal of informing future studies and program practices.
