Abstract
There is still a considerable gap that needs to be filled in order to meet the water and sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goals. Current efforts are driven by the particular way in which the problem has been conceptualised, and this has implications for a large part of the population that lacks access to water supply and sanitation services (WSS), but is continually overlooked. This article takes a closer look at official attempts to improve WSS in order to understand their underlying assumptions and subsequent implications for the provision of services. This is contrasted with evidence from research in Cairo, Caracas, Chennai, Dar es Salaam and Mexico City, which sheds light on the continued struggles of the peri-urban water poor in gaining access to services. Peri-urban communities in these cities have developed a number of needs-driven practices in order to compensate for the inefficiency of the formal WSS system, but remain largely invisible and unsupported due to their political status. The article argues for recognition and active involvement of the peri-urban water poor to have a realistic chance to address the global water and sanitation challenges.
Highlights
Improvements to water supply and sanitation services (WSS) have been a part of the development agenda for decades, with a substantial proportion of the world’s population still lacking such access
There is no doubt that the scale of urban water poverty is less significant; the number of people lacking access to WSS in urban areas is fast increasing and this phenomenon is most prominent in the so-called peri-urban interface (PUI)
This paper focuses on issues related to the access to WSS in the peri-urban context, and will illustrate how the peri-urban water poor are largely invisible in the formal WSS system, and this invisibility is reproduced at various levels
Summary
Improvements to water supply and sanitation services (WSS) have been a part of the development agenda for decades, with a substantial proportion of the world’s population still lacking such access. Lack of access is manifest in rural areas, but the number of rural people gaining access to drinking water and improved sanitation facilities has increased steadily since 1990. The first part of the paper takes a closer look at official WSS efforts and examines the underlying assumptions and conceptual positions that inform WSS goals and subsequent approaches in measuring and monitoring progress towards these goals. This provides clear indications about how WSS priorities are set and related policies and planning approaches developed and implemented.
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