Tag: water decade

Some Lessons from working in Water Sanitation and Hygiene since the 1990s

Having been active in the field of water and sanitation, I have learnt the following key lessons:

  1. That as with all development sectors WASH programming has greatly evolved over the past two decades and sustainability of both activities and services remains an ongoing challenge. Since the water decade, the challenges have basically remained around the same issues.
  2. That extending access to safe water and basic sanitation and improving hygiene practices lowers the incidences of diseases carried by water and improves public health especially for women and children. WASH is not a priority of many development programs, little wonder, we are still going in circles decades after resolving to attach WASH challenges in the world
  3. That for improved hygiene practices to become lasting and prominent, there needs to be a change in the social norms that relate to hygiene behaviour practices. It does not matter how much investments you make in building toilets, they will never be used until you begin to change the societal norms.
  4. That triggering demand for sanitation is a crucial starting point for improved sanitary behaviour, but poor households cannot always afford to build improved latrines and so basic pit latrines are a legitimate step on a sanitation ladder. While we need the use of improved sanitary facilities everywhere, we should be realistic that not everyone can afford that. We should therefore, be happy when we see even basic toilets made out of anything as long as they are in use.
  5. That community management models alone cannot lead to sustainability of services. Beyond the simple transfer of responsibility to communities, there must be referencing to other actors such as the local government and the private sector. Community management systems have failed. It is time to think again. Back to the drawing board. Communities alone are over burdened with so many investments.
  6. That the quality of partnerships formed by organisations and agencies in WASH are critical to the sustainability of WASH outcomes. You cannot do it alone. Particularly governments, they must begin to own up and budget and invest in WASH.
  7. That having  access to safe drinking water and  sanitation is central to living a life of dignity… the rights to water and sanitation further require an explicit focus on the most disadvantaged and marginalised. Too many projects in WASH forget that there are people with special needs. We need to be more sensitive in programming.
  8. That development programs should consider long-term design implications especially in use of WASH facilities by people with disability.