Sanitation as a Key to Global Health – UN University

Sanitation as a Key to Global Health: Voices from the Field, 2010. UN University – Institute for Water & Health. (pdf, 2.4MB)

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE REPORT

1. Sanitation must be addressed in the broader context of global poverty and in concert with the other MDGs as part of an overall strategy to increase global equity.

2. Sanitation should be a primary focus but must be situated within the broader context of water management and access to safe water.

3. Sanitation must be integrated into community life – holistic, community-based and community-driven. Empower local communities (not just households) to identify needs, change behaviour, create demand for ownership and overcome obstacles such as land tenure.

4. Investments in sanitation must be co-ordinated, longterm and focus on both “software” (usage) as well as “hardware” (facilities). To make monitoring more valuable, community-based evaluations should strive to integrate and examine failures and successes associated with sanitation delivery.

5. “Acceptable” sanitation access must be redefined within the context of gender, economic realities and environmental constraints.

6. Achievement targets should be redefined, moving from 50% coverage by 2015 to 100% coverage by 2025.

7. National NGOs need to co-ordinate their response to the sanitation crisis and enhance communication, especially regarding lessons learned, to form an effective and vocal lobby group for sanitation advocacy in order to facilitate a co-ordinated response.

8. New business models should be designed to develop markets at the bottom of the pyramid and deal with the apexes of the water-sanitation-hygiene triangle concurrently.

9. Countries need to recommit to official development assistance equal to 0.7% of GDP and, within this framework, commit 0.002% of GDP to international investments in sanitation.