The persistent gap in urban sanitation

Abstract

• Studies, including the authors research, show that onsite sanitation is unsafe in dense low-income urban areas in and outside sub-Saharan Africa, exposing the population to sanitation-related diseases. • Public funding for sanitation is too low, in many cases below the 0,5% of the GDP African countries committed to in the 2008 eThekwini Declaration and the 2015 N’gor declaration. • Public investment and engagement are urgently needed in sanitation in dense low-income urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as alternatives to onsite sanitation.