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Editorial
01.10.2019
Tuesday is a special day in our household. Every Tuesday our five-year-old grandson wakes up excited by the fact that today the bin lorry will come to take away our household waste – one week it’s the recycling, the alternate week it’s the landfill waste, and every week the kitchen waste is taken away for composting. Together we enjoy watching for and waving to the workers as they take our solid waste away, and we are immensely grateful for their toil. -
Editorial: Leave no one behind in rural water services
01.04.2019
In development work, as in many other areas of life, we have a natural human tendency to focus on the one thing – the single highest priority issue, or perhaps the current fashion – without recognizing that several things may be true or important simultaneously. -
Editorial: Time to take professionalism seriously in the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 6
01.01.2019
As one who has worked in the development of water and sanitation for nearly 45 years, I look over the wall sometimes into the world of humanitarian work, and see a very different environment from the one in which I have mainly worked. The particular contrast which I want to highlight is the wide international consensus around clearly articulated principles and standards in humanitarian work, and what I see as a far looser commitment to true professionalism in long-term development work, including in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. -
Editorial: Why it’s not enough for local governments and NGOs to simply serve more people
01.07.2018
Many people lack even basic services. Implementation of water and sanitation programmes, especially in rural areas, is mainly undertaken by (local) governments and NGOs – often supported directly or indirectly by international donors and NGOs. These implementing agencies and their partners are driven by their awareness of the numbers of people who are still not able to access even a basic level of service – around 844 million in the case of water, and 2.3 billion in the case of sanitation (data from JMP update 2017). -
An investigation of private operator models for the management of rural water supply in sub-Saharan Africa
01.04.2018
Concerns over rural water service functionality and sustainability have led to a range of alternative rural water supply (RWS) management models being investigated and trialled, including the private operator (PO) management model. This study aimed to construct a rapid assessment framework (RAF) to determine if the PO management model is appropriate for RWS. Data collection consisted of a review of literature and interviews conducted with key informants involved in RWS in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The synthesis of the literature review and interview analysis findings resulted in six themes, critical to the PO management model, being identified. In the right circumstances, PO management models can be a viable option to help address the sustainability of RWS in SSA. However, private sector involvement is not a panacea for RWS and, therefore a mix of management models is required if sustainable development goal 6 is to be achieved. -
Editorial: Reflecting, listening, and doing better
01.04.2018
Each year I teach a module on ‘international development’ (with a particular focus on WASH) to a postgraduate class drawn from many countries. We discuss both the ideas and concepts which underlie development and disaster risk reduction, and also some of the practicalities and realities of these challenging endeavours. Teaching and being questioned by bright and enquiring individuals who come from a wide range of professional and cultural experiences presents a welcome opportunity to reflect again on what this work is all about. -
Editorial: Setting SDG ambitions in a realistic time-scale
01.01.2018
At the outset of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) period 68 countries are not on track to achieve universal basic water services and 89 countries will not achieve universal basic sanitation services by 2030 (WHO/UNICEF, 2017). Furthermore, the SDGs challenge us to go even further than basic service provision, through the introduction of new standards of ‘safely managed’ services. Based on simple extrapolations, even more countries will fail to achieve universal safely managed services by 2030 unless major changes take place in the next 13 years. -
Editorial: Feeling our way forward
01.10.2017
The scale, scope and level of ambition embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals (the SDGs) is daunting. At the country level, the corresponding aspirations encapsulated in national development strategies and plans are equally formidable. Dwelling on the challenges would be understandable, but only useful up to a point. While it is essential to analyse the nature and magnitude of the problems which we are trying to address, it is even more critical that we are not overwhelmed by them. Analysis must lead to action, not paralysis. Action will lead to numerous failures along the way, but it is through failures and occasional successes that we learn how to do better. Failure – and success – must be embraced. -
Editorial: Why partial solutions may not be solutions at all
01.04.2017
In the United Nations’ exposition of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (‘ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all’), the problems of water and sanitation are framed in terms of the targets and indicators that would demonstrate desired progress. The underlying problems for which these targets represent a solution include the world’s failure so far to achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water and to adequate and equitable sanitation. Specific attention is also drawn to the threats to the quality and quantity of the water resources on which humanity depends for its survival. -
Can and should sanitation and hygiene programmes be expected to achieve health impacts?
01.01.2017
Although the anticipated health benefits are not the only reason for undertaking sanitation and hygiene programmes, they do represent an important part of the justification. Studies and reviews over recent years have shown, however, that the health impacts of sanitation programmes can be quite small or even negligible. They have also provided no solid evidence that integrated (water, sanitation, hygiene) programming has any greater effect than addressing one or two of these components alone. Two questions arise: first, whether a certain level of sanitation usage and hygiene practice within a community is needed in order to achieve a measurable health impact (i.e. whether a minimum percentage of the population should be using safe sanitation); second, whether sanitation and hygiene interventions undertaken without accompanying water supply improvements are likely to have significant health benefits. In this opinion paper some plausible and practically relevant answers to these questions are extracted from the relevant literature. The conclusions are that a high level of sanitation usage (well over 65 per cent) and widespread handwashing practice are necessary to achieve significant health impact; and that in situations where water services are poor, sanitation and hygiene interventions, while valuable for other reasons, are unlikely to have significant health impacts. Sanitation and hygiene programmes may be justifiable even if they do not immediately achieve high levels of compliance and corresponding water supply improvements are not made; however, the justification should not be presented on the grounds of short-term health benefits.