Summary

The starting point for this TOP is the demonstrable reality that, despite the best efforts of the global water sector over several decades, a major part of the developing world continues to lack adequate sanitation.

This failure, say the authors, stems from shortcomings at the national policy level. Often there has been no national sanitation policy and in other instances a declared policy has been unclear, or even contradictory, in its aims and objectives.

Without a sound national policy there is no focus for the planning of sanitation programmes and no sure basis for developing the multi-layered organizational structures needed to devolve responsibility for sanitation down to lower levels of government.

When these essential support mechanisms are missing there is little hope of extending sanitation coverage at any meaningful scale. Conversely, when NGOs or other sub-national agencies implement a worthwhile local pilot sanitation project the same missing links prevent a scaling up to state, regional or national level.

One principal reason put forward for this is that, although many countries are now moving to water and sanitation sector reform, the national policy emphasis is on water supply. While that is no different from past practice in all countries the authors point to the need for separate sanitation policies with a clear line of responsibility to one or more specified institutions. Too often responsibilities have become blurred because of overlapping and sometimes conflicting interests in government departments or other institutions variously responsible for housing, rural development, environmental protection, or other aspects of national life.

Increasingly these lessons are being learned by external support agencies and governments and there is growing recognition too that the benefits of providing adequate sanitation are not limited to public health. Poverty can be reduced and overall quality of life improved in the target populations that lack this basic human right, and good sanitation inevitably improves the local environment and reduces threats to ground and surface waters.

While policy inadequacies are the root cause of the failures in expanding sanitation coverage the paper cites examples of countries that have overcome this initial difficulty but have yet to demonstrate the results in terms of widespread implementation. Translating policy into action on the ground is shown to be a highly complex matter. Many issues are involved but the guiding principle must be the creation of an enabling environment promoted by political will at the highest level and assured by appropriate budgetary allocations and a sound legislative framework.

Above all, as this TOP emphasises, no sanitation policy will be effectively implemented without the full involvement and participation of stakeholders at all levels. There must be belief in the policy aims and objectives, and, at the implementation end, a trusting relationship between beneficiaries and implementing agencies, a fact best illustrated here by the projects in West Bengal and Kerala, India.