Sanitation Sector Research Articles

Analysis of the Targets and Progress toward Meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal - 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation: Evidence from India

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) success has been a major challenge for governments of every nation over the past few years. In particular, this research focuses on the progress being made toward achieving SDG 6 which aims to make sure that every person has access to clean drinking water and sanitation. Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is perhaps the most squeezing challenge in the nation and is being tended to by the public authority on a fundamentally important premise. The core purpose of this paper was to evaluate the progress made to achieve the SDG 6 objectives in India and Indian states and UTs. Using SDG Index reports for 2018, 2019 and 2020, we assess the progress made in terms of SDG 6. The results showed that most states and UTs are in the front runner category and progress is being made. The paper raises various policy issues, including drafting water and sanitation regulations that benefit the poor and marginalized sectors of society, as well as states and areas that lack access. The importance of formal education, especially for rural women, cannot be overstated, which impacts their decisions about the type of bathroom to use and what water treatment alternatives are most applicable to their particular needs. Strong collaboration between non-state organizations and the government as well as involvement of local institutions such as PRIs in introducing reforms in the water and sanitation sectors are the ways to achieve targets under SDG 6.

Peran USAID Melalui Program IUWASH-PLUS dalam Penyediaan Sanitasi dan Air Bersih di Kota Bogor Tahun 2020-2021

Climate crisis is a phenomenon that effecting human’s life whether in environmental sector, social sector, and even human health. That’s why a lot of people get effected especially for water and sanitation sector. IUWASH-PLUS or Indonesia Urban Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Penyehatan Lingkungan Untuk Semua is a program created by United States Agency of International Development or also known as USAID which oriented in water and sanitation hygiene sectors. This research aims to describes what are the roles of USAID in IUWASH-PLUS program especially in Bogor City in order to help The City of Bogor government to provide access of proper water and sanitation hygiene. This research uses the concept of the role of foreign aid agency to analyze the study case of this research. The research methods use in this research is descriptive qualitative with secondary data analysis method that retrieved from official websites, journals, online articles, and the previous researches. The output of this research is to analyze what are the roles of USAID in IUWASH-PLUS program to help The City of Bogor government to provide access of proper water and sanitation hygiene.
 
 Keywords : Foreign Aid Agency, USAID, Foreign Aid, IUWASH-PLUS.

The Role of International Funds in Fulfill the Palestinian Water Authority Strategic Plan 2015-2017

The International Funds are a double edge sword and it has played a vital role in promoting the water industry and its strategic objectives. This study is directed towards assessing the role of the international funds in fulfilling the Palestinian Water Authority’s Strategic plan (2015-2017). In fact, to achieve this goal using data collection approaches through a quantitative survey and the qualitative approach. The data of the survey are analyzed using (SPSS 20) in terms of descriptive statistics followed by inferential statistics. Our study aims at the administrative staff of municipalities and joint service councils in the West Bank, primarily from municipal cities of Jenin and Tubas. About 30 of the joint service council’s administration employees completed the questionnaire that was distributed. The survey filled with 96.7% males and 3.3% female, 60 % were from municipalities and 40% from joint service councils. Moreover, for the qualitative data the researcher used identification, examination, and interpretation of paradigms in textual data, reports and M&E documents of the Palestine water authority projects that were funded through the period 1997- 2017. The data showed that the total funds for the Palestinian water authority from 1997 to 2017 have reached (129, 1750 Million $). From those funds, the French agency has the highest contribution of funding the PWA programs by (256, 6908 Million $). The data also showed that the sanitation sector got the highest percentage from funds with 62%. The analysis also showed that there is a link between the international funds and the PWA strategic goals; it creates its strategic plan based on the Palestinian society’s needs and the international funds supporting these needs. The research concludes the following results; the international fund’s policy dimension statistically contributes significantly to the model and has an impact on fulfilling the PWA strategic plan, also the analysis showed that fulfilling the PWA strategic plan by evolution dimension statistically contributes significantly to the model and effect on the international funds. Moreover, the result showed that there is a communication gap between PWA management and the utilities in its supporting so there is a lack of awareness from the target group for the role and policy of the PWA. Additionally, the lack of effort to establish external technical control and institutional participation, which is considered as an important process in the implementation of the strategic plan.

Fostering the transformative potential of participatory photography: Insights from water and sanitation assessments

Transformative research and evaluation both aim to foster social change as part of the inquiry process, often leveraging participatory and tactile methods with an advocacy objective. One such approach is participatory photography which engages marginalized individuals in image creation and includes activities such as photovoice and photo-elicitation. This article considers opportunities to strengthen the transformative potential of participatory photography activities within the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. The research comprised two components: 1) a systematic literature review of participatory photography activities in the WASH sector (n = 32) and 2) an empirical case of a photovoice evaluation of a staff-focused gender mainstreaming intervention in Cambodia (n = 20), including a structured survey, structured observations of the evaluation process, and three participatory reflection workshops with program leadership. Drawing on the two components, we reflect on the extent to which photography-based approaches in the WASH-sector have been transformative. Our findings indicate that transformative potential can arise from participatory photography’s process and outcomes. The research identified opportunities for the WASH-sector to strengthen participatory photography by 1) purposefully recruiting participants, 2) creating engaging orientation opportunities, 3) supporting participants in ethical image creation, 4) facilitating image interpretation, and 5) progressing photo-stories into advocacy. The study also considers how participatory photography can address gender inequalities inherent in photography, hence seeking gender-transformation. While these insights were derived for participatory photography activities in the WASH sector, the findings and implications have relevance in other sectors that seek to investigate complex change and foster transformations.

Flexible and Resource-Recovery Sanitation Solutions: What Hindered Their Implementation? A 40-Year Swedish Perspective

ABSTRACT Although Sweden pioneered in the development of resource-recovery sanitation solutions, and there has existed a political awareness of such solutions since the 1990s, their implementation has been slow. We adopt a historical (40-year) perspective and use the main journal of the Swedish sanitation sector as source material to go into depth why this has been the case. Central explanations emerge in terms of previously strong governmental control and continuously tightened environmental requirements that ceaselessly have expanded and strengthened the large-scale centralized sanitation system. In parallel, the sector has continuously been reminded of the shortcomings of alternative (and smaller) solutions and of the tension between recovery and treatment/risk management. The study highlights the possibility of achieving long-term and profound impacts from policy mixes, as well as the strong influence of the sum of challenges and choices over a long time, on today’s perspectives and propensity for change.

The National Rural Water and Sanitation Project (1985-1989) in Brazil: limits and potentials

In this article, the principles of the National Rural Water and Sanitation Project (PNSR), elaborated during the 1980s, are analyzed, discussing the advances and the limits reached in the development of rural water supply and sanitation in Brazil. The methodology used was an analysis of the content of documents and interviews with key actors. The results have demonstrated that the formulation of the PNSR promoted a new contribution of knowledge to the water and sanitation sector in Brazil, bringing innovations concerning the approach to water and basic sanitation in rural areas, especially relating to its integration with health, the processes of education and social participation, the decentralization of services, the use of appropriate technologies and community involvement in the management of services. Although it did not result in a government program, the legacy left by the PNSR has provided a great contribution in the form of studies, which are still relevant today.

Qualitative analysis of cash‐based interventions for water, sanitation, and hygiene operations and maintenance in internally displaced persons sites in Kachin, Myanmar

AbstractCash‐based interventions are increasingly used in humanitarian response, including in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. To strengthen evidence, we conducted a qualitative study on cash‐based interventions programs for WASH operations and maintenance in Kachin, Myanmar. We collected field data for one programme and completed a desk review for two programs. We found camp‐based committees were responsible for spending decisions and cash use was aligned with community needs/priorities. Programme strengths included community empowerment, time effectiveness; programme weaknesses included funding insecurity, limited training and monitoring and vulnerable groups inclusion. Recommendations for cash‐based WASH operation and maintenance programs in Kachin and similar contexts are presented.

Domesticating cleaner cookstoves for improved respiratory health: Using approaches from the sanitation sector to explore the adoption and sustained use of improved cooking technologies in Nepal

Drawing on village-based data from Nepal, this paper explores the transferability of the Integrated Behavioural Model for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (IBM-WASH) to the clean cooking sector and its potential to elucidate how barriers to improved cookstove adoption and sustained use intersect at different scales. The paper also explores the potential of IBM-WASH, behaviour settings theory and domestication analysis to collectively inform effective behaviour change techniques and interventions that promote both adoption and sustained use of health-promoting technologies. Information on cookstove use in the community since 2012 enables valuable insights to be gained on how kitchen settings and associated cooking behaviour were re-configured as homes and stoves were re-built following the April 2015 earthquake. The methodological approach comprised of semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, direct observation and household surveys. The findings indicated that the IBM-WASH framework translated well to the improved cookstove sector, capturing key influences on clean cooking transitions across the model's three dimensions (context, psychosocial and technology) at all five levels. Understandings gained from utilising IBM-WASH were enhanced – especially at the individual and habitual levels – by domestication analysis and settings theory which elucidated how different cooking technologies were incorporated (or not) within physical structures, everyday lives and routine behaviour. The paper concludes that this combination of approaches has potential applicability for initiatives seeking to promote improved environmental health at community-wide scales.

Pelaksanaan Sanitasi Total Berbasis Masyarakat

Community Based Total Sanitation is a policy issued by the government to change hygiene and sanitation behavior through community empowerment to maintain cleanliness in public places such as mosques. However, several mosques in the Southeast Padangsidimpuan District have no bathroom facilities equipped with a septic tank. these risks can reduce the quality of life, buildings and the environment due to low access to services in the sanitation sector. From these problems, the authors want to know how the implementation of the Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia no. 3 of 2014 Article 4 Paragraph (1) concerning Community-Based Total Sanitation at the Mosque of Southeast Padangsidimpuan District, what are the factors that hinder the implementation of the Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia No. 3 of 2014 Article 4 Paragraph (1) concerning Community-Based Total Sanitation, and How is Fiqh Siyasah Review of the Implementation of the Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia No. 3 of 2014 Article 4 Paragraph (1). The type of research used in this research is field research, using qualitative descriptive analysis methods, namely describing phenomena or events that occur in the field. The data collection instruments used consisted of interviews, observations, and documentation. The results of this study state that there are 3 stages of implementing the Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia No. 3 of 2014 Article 4 Paragraph 1 concerning Community-Based Total Sanitation (Study at the Mosque of Southeast Padangsidimpuan District) namely the preparation stage, triggering stage and monitoring stage. The factors that support its implementation are caused by factors, education level factors, income factors and factors behavior, and if it is seen from the Siyasah Fiqh Review that the government regulations regarding standard sanitation for the manufacture of septic tanks can be seen from the side of Siyasah Duturiyah discussing government policies and regulations.

Policy Brief on Inclusion of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Zambia`s Nationally Determined Contributions

The Paris Agreement aims to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, thus contributing to sustainable development goals through building climate-resilient communities and industries. Water is the primary medium through which climate change influences the earth’s ecosystem and thus the livelihood and well-being of societies. Extreme weather conditions impact many sectors such as health, tourism, agriculture, and industry where water plays a key role. The climate effect is first and foremost through water systems as highlighted by the World Economic Forum (2016) Global Risks Report. Hence the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector plays a pivotal role in addressing climate change. 
 In the last decade, Zambia has experienced the impacts of climate change in the form of extreme weather conditions and rising temperatures. In light of this, the Zambian government developed NDCs in accordance with the Paris agreement that aims to reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions and develop sustainable climate-resilient communities and industries. The impacts of climate change are felt through its influence on water. WASH is not only affected by climate change, but also a contributing factor to GHG emissions. Therefore, the WASH sector should play a pivotal role in contributing to the climate change targets. 
 There are gaps among state and non-state actors and with affected communities in acknowledging the critical role of WASH in making real the NDC that need bridging. These include awareness and knowledge of WASH in contributing to NDC; the need to go beyond water to include sanitation and hygiene elements in the NDCs as holistic approach; inclusive participation of civil society and other non-state actors in addressing the gaps; integration of sectors and programmes in the NDCs; and enhanced governance and accountability mechanisms.

Does project-level foreign aid increase access to improved water sources? Evidence from household panel data in Uganda

Empirical evidence from cross-country studies on the effectiveness of aid to the water, sanitation and hygiene sector (WASH aid) points to significant heterogeneity across countries and highlights the need for further research at the sub-national level to assess and quantify the effectiveness of WASH aid within countries. This paper combines geocoded sub-national data on the location of WASH aid projects in Uganda with nationally representative household-level panel survey data to examine whether proximity to aid-funded WASH projects improves household access to water. Access to water is evaluated along three dimensions: access to an improved water source, travel time to an improved water source and waiting time at an improved water source. The results of a difference-in-difference regression analysis suggest that while aid-funded WASH projects increase household access to improved sources of water, households may also see the time burden of water collection increase, as they may need to travel longer distances and also experience longer wait times due to congestion at water service points. This is an indication that the supply of improved water sources financed by WASH aid in Uganda remains insufficient relative to demand as measured by the population density.

Innovation During COVID-19 Pandemic: Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Informal Settlements

This paper explores informal settlements’ innovations in the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Water, sanitation, and hygiene are important aspects that can reduce the spread of COVID-19. However, the water and sanitation conditions in densely populated informal settlements tend to be sub-standard, and residents must often rely on shared facilities. Previous research has generally explored innovation on a macro scale, whereas this research is local. This paper explores four elements of innovation: form, actor, conflict, and regulation, to study social innovations in six urban villages in Bandung City, Indonesia. This study found that innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic have generally been in the form of arrangements for using shared facilities and providing handwashing facilities. A mix of actors comprised the community, village/sub-district officers, the COVID-19 task force, and other community organizations, highlighting the importance of combining a bottom-up and top-down approach to social innovations. However, a lack of rules and the institutionalization of innovations, perceived getting better conditions, scheduling, and funding prevented the long-term success of the innovations. The paper develops policy recommendations for the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector based on these findings.

Rural Sanitation: Scenarios and Public Policies for the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region

Brazil’s primary sanitation sector has been neglected, especially concerning rural sanitation. Population dispersion and the difficulty of access in many rural communities bring more significant challenges to the universalization of the service and, consequently, vulnerabilities for the population. The present work builds a theoretical framework about the context of rural sanitation in Brazil, with history, weaknesses in the sector, the impact of COVID-19 and new technologies, and central public policies in the State of Pernambuco. It is known that COVID-19 has caused considerable challenges that, added to the obstacles to national sanitation, result in greater vulnerability to the population, especially for indigenous peoples, quilombolas, and diffuse rural communities. In the State of Pernambuco, certain policies, such as the One Million Rural Cisterns Program (P1MC), One Land and Two Waters Program (P1 + 2), Água Doce Program and Operação Pipa Program, significantly improved the quality of life of the rural population. However, these measures are not enough to remedy the sector’s shortcomings. Although alternative sanitation technologies bring hope to the sector, there is a long way to go towards the universalization of sanitation.

Revitalizing Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene in Uganda’s National Determined Contributions` 2021 Revision Process- A Policy Brief

Uganda as a signatory to the Paris Agreement is required to update her Nationally Determined Contributions to demonstrate progress after every five years. The Water Sanitation and Hygiene(WASH) sector has proven to be a victim, contributor but also a critical component to addressing the existing climate challenges. Despite the clear link between WASH and Climate change, most climate change initiatives do not address WASH adequately from both adaptation and mitigation perspectives. This study analyzed the WASH related targets in Uganda’s current NDCs to ascertain how they have been addressed from both the mitigation and adaptation perspectives. The paper took on a rapid assessment of the current NDCs using a desk study and secondary literature review approach coupled with key stakeholder expert inputs through write-shops. Whereas WASH climate focused targets have been to a greater extent covered under adaptation, there is limited integration from the mitigation perspective which does not provide a balanced approach towards achieving the targets set out in the NDCs. The policy brief recommends a number of actions that include inclusion of WASH mitigation policy action in the NDCs, setting adaptation targets for the waste sector, amplifying the role of the private sector in WASH in the updated NDCs, prioritizing research and development to support decision making, providing for measurement, reporting and verifications for WASH in the NDCs, enhanced technology transfer and alignment of the updated NDCs with the long-term strategy. If adopted, these recommendations provide a starting point to comprehensively address WASH in the revised NDCs and subsequently contribute to the achievement of goal six of Sustainable Development Goals on clean water and sanitation for all.

Water and Sanitation as a Wicked Governance Problem in Brazil: An Institutional Approach

The world is facing a large number of interrelated crises that have seriously increased the level of uncertainty and ambiguity in many areas. In 2018, the UN anticipated that the world was careering toward a global water crisis with a 40% shortfall in freshwater resources by 2030 coupled with a rising population. This nascent crisis represents a “connected challenge” for countries: it contains a multitude of causes and consequences, a multitude of actors and interests for which no “one-size-fits-all” solutions are available. The adequate approach to this type of complex—or “wicked”—problems is not to search for technological solutions only, but to consider new forms of governance that make use of complementary institutional logics. Effective governance depends on the extent of alignment with the complexity and the root causes of the issues. This paper applies wicked problem theory to identify the root institutional and governance causes of uncertainty in a developing country like Brazil, which provides insights to (also) identify approaches that could navigate change in less uncertain and ambiguous directions. We distinguish three types of relevant institutional constraints: logics, complementarities, and voids. Based on semi-structured interviews with representatives from Brazil's water and sanitation sector, we delineate institutional constraints precipitated by the plurality of the governance system. We argue why a tripartite partnership approach—as for instance pioneered by Dutch international water projects in the global South—presents a way out of the wicked water and sanitation problems in Brazil.

Water and sanitation services in India and Ghana: an assessment of implications for rural health and related SDGs

Abstract Provisioning of water and sanitation services has become one of the key determinants of SDGs. This review focuses on the trends in water and sanitation services and reforms in India and Ghana over the last two decades. The findings reveal that access to water has improved in India and Ghana at 81.5 and 92.7%, respectively. However, access to sanitation continues to be a challenge in both countries, with the currently reported coverage being 59.5% and 18.5%, respectively. The index of sustainable development goal (SDG) performance of Ghana and India stands at 65.4 and 61.9 with global rankings of 100 and 117, respectively. The adverse impacts of poor access to sanitation increasingly reflect on rising numbers of population suffering from water-borne diseases. From the policy perspective, the paper highlights the need for framing pro-poor water and sanitation policies; focusing on women and girls’ education; promoting affordable water and sanitation services; promoting collaboration of stakeholders involved in the rural water and sanitation sectors; and increasing budgetary allocations by local governments.

Strengthening water, sanitation and hygiene governance: a critical review of Zimbabwe's WASH sector institutional arrangements

Abstract This paper sought to review the structural and operational modalities for Zimbabwe's water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector coordination architecture with an objective to identify gaps and recommend areas for further strengthening. Data were collected using a mixed-method approach involving a questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, key-informant interviews and literature review. The study established that the institution of the National Action Committee (NAC) remains incapacitated to effectively deliver on its mandate. Its various committees are failing to convene meetings on regular basis, hence issues take longer to resolve. Decision-making and role clarity among members still remain indistinct, triggering undesirable conflicts. The legitimacy of the institution of the NAC also remains highly questionable, lacking legal bases to back its operations. In terms of information management, structures and systems are in place, only requiring support to make sure they thrive. Finally, financing including intersectoral coordination remains very weak and would need to be built-on, considering the potential of the coordination mechanism to enhance service delivery. A key recommendation emerging from this study is the urgent need for government to commission a review of the current multi-stakeholder platform in the best interest of aligning the coordination structure to the 2013 national constitution and national water policy.

Regulating Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) in Colombia.

The conventional top-down scope of relying only on centralised sewerage has proven insufficient to reach the entire global population with safely managed sanitation and meet Sustainable Development Goals 6.2. and 6.3 by 2030. Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) has emerged as an approach to accelerate progress by considering different technologies and service provision models within the same city to expand sanitation access equitably and sustainably. However, to generate an enabling environment for CWIS to be implemented successfully, regulatory frameworks must be adapted, as they are often unsuited for non-sewered sanitation solutions. By analysing the Colombian case study through a mixed qualitative methodology comprised of a policy review, semi-structured interviews, and workshops with key stakeholders in the urban sanitation sector, the country’s regulatory framework was evaluated to determine if it is adequate to implement CWIS. Regulations were identified to pose barriers for CWIS and produced a disabling environment for its application. This research proposes recommendations to adapt the regulatory framework to allow CWIS application in Colombia based on the encountered barriers. This is the first comprehensive study on regulations for CWIS in the Latin American context and therefore provides the basis for further research to understand the dynamics related to effective regulations for CWIS globally.

Does microcredit for water and sanitation improve household welfare? Evidence from Indonesia

AbstractThe water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector requires large household investments and expenditure. Microfinance provides an alternative financing scheme to support in reaching universal access to WSS to improve public health and well-being. Using propensity score matching to Water.org's household survey data, combined with the Village Potential's village statistics, this study aims to evaluate the impact of microcredit devoted to improvements in water and sanitation facilities towards household welfare measured by the WSS Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) ladder status, income, and the share of health expenditure. Due to data availability limitations, the results indicated an associative relationship, as opposed to a causality relationship, between WSS microcredit participation and the respective outcomes. Participation in WSS microcredit was significantly associated with a higher JMP ladder for sanitation access but not with a JMP ladder for water access. Moreover, borrowers’ participation in WSS microcredit was associated with a significantly higher monthly income and a significantly lower proportion of health expenditure. Future evaluation studies of WSS microcredit should focus on improving data collection or conducting randomized control trials. For ensuring better practices, microfinance institutions (MFIs) should conduct stringent monitoring on fund usage to assure households benefit from the expected outcomes of WSS improvements.

Impact of a methane emission tax on circular economy scenarios in small wastewater treatment plants.

This paper analyzes the impact of methane emissions taxation on the recovery of the investments required for implementing technologies that use biogas energy in small wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in Brazil. It is based on the hypothesis that the adoption of a national methane emission tax policy would encourage small WWTPs to become sustainable power plants. The procedure involved 173 anaerobic plants to analyze: (a) methane production; (b) available useful energy; (c) investments and avoided costs for implementing STHIL system (thermal drying sludge) and motor generator (electricity generation); (d) financial impact for two scenarios (C1: no emissions tax; C2: with tax). Positive environmental and financial results were observed for WWTPs, varying according to the period of time analyzed for both technologies. Investments must be made in cogeneration in anaerobic WWTPs for achieving satisfactory results. Taxation must not be viewed simply as a punitive instrument; on the contrary, it should be seen as a tool to encourage continuous process improvement. The circular economy may support the enlargement of the wastewater collection and treatment system, guaranteeing widespread sanitation conditions in urban areas. However, the actual implementation of a methane emission tax in Brazil still requires many rounds of discussion among sanitation companies, government, and civil society, to establish emission limits, and unit taxes, as well as to consolidate a carbon trade to follow through with this decision in the sanitation sector.