Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694573517274.pdf (Australia)
5 Jun 2018 Committee Secretary Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade PO Box 6021 Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Re: Submission to the Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia’s aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role in supporting Australia’s regional interests Dear Committee Secretary, WaterAid Australia is a non-government organisation whose vision is of a world in which everyone, everywhere has safe water, sanitation and hygiene.
As a long-term development partner of the Australian Government, WaterAid has been funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) for diverse projects since our 2004 inception.

Most recently, WaterAid was selected as one of the ten NGOs to deliver projects under DFAT’s Water for Women Fund.
For the purpose of this Inquiry we are submitting our recent discussion paper Integrated approaches to menstrual hygiene in Asia and the Pacific, developed in partnership with Marie Stopes International Australia.

The paper details the often-overlooked intersection between menstrual and sexual and reproductive health.

It makes practical recommendations to strengthen international development efforts in these spaces, so as to improve women and girls’ education, health and social outcomes.
This paper aims to highlight that scaled-up investment in holistic, cross-sectoral projects, in which women and girls are at the centre of solutions, are critical to advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment.

This is in light of the fact that challenges in managing reproductive health pose significant barriers to educational attainment for women and girls, limiting social and economic prospects and perpetuating gender inequality.
Adolescent pregnancy remains a leading cause of death and disability for girls aged 15-19 and is a major contributing factor to poor school attendance and completion.

Similarly, an inability for girls to manage menstruation in hygienic and dignified ways, or to access quality and affordable sanitary products, contributes to poor health and social outcomes, including school absenteeism.
1 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 22 Australia has historically had separate investment in these areas.
As funding for each area has increased over recent years, DFAT has funded both service delivery projects and research on girls’ and women’s sexual and reproductive health, and menstrual health needs and preferences across South-East Asia and the Pacific, for example ‘The Last Taboo’ multi- country Pacific research.
Addressing these issues in an integrated, holistic manner is critical to supporting the achievement of DFAT’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment strategy, including its commitment of 80 percent of development initiatives contributing to gender equality outcomes.

We recommend to the Committee that the actions contained in the attached discussion paper be adopted to ensure future Australian aid investments improve development outcomes for women and girls.
It is critical for recent DFAT-funded research findings to be applied to future programming, so that investment is scaled up for holistic, cross-sectoral projects, in which women and girls are at the centre of solutions.

We would be happy to present at a public hearing to talk the Committee through the actions in the report in more detail.
Sincerely, Tom Muller Director of Policy and Programs WaterAid Australia 2 Inquiry into the strategic effectiveness and outcomes of Australia's aid program in the Indo-Pacific and its role insupporting Australia’s regional interestsSubmission 22