Partnerships for sanitation for the urban poor: Is it time to shift paradigm?

A small but growing number of successful partnerships are supporting sanitation improvement for poor urban households, but the sector should be cautious in assuming that models that have worked well for water can be extrapolated to sanitation. Partnerships are not a substitute for action by government, nor do they absolve government of responsibility for investing in service provision. They do hold the potential to harness fresh approaches to achieve public sector objectives, leverage capacity and broker the relationships needed to overcome mistrust, disengagement, poor accountability and the fragmentation that often characterises the sanitation sector.

Author Kathy Eales has been invited to write this essay for the IRC symposium Sanitation for the Urban Poor. She is currently an independent consultant in the South African water and sanitation sector . She has wide-ranging experience in sanitation improvement in a range of settlement contexts, and has worked in policy development, service provision and regulation, working in national government, local government, the NGO sector and in research. She has a particular interest in informal settlements.

[Format of the essay is based on WEDC conference paper´s format]

Eales_Essay-Kathy_Eales_Partnerships-for-urban-sanitation.doc (115.5 kB)