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Sanitation services for the urban poor: Symposium background paper

This paper addresses sanitation for the urban poor from a service delivery perspective. This entails a shift from simply seeing interventions as capital projects towards a systems approach that considers all elements required to provide sustainable and appropriate sanitation services to the poor at scale. The paper argues that urban sanitation services should consider:

  • The entire sanitation chain: confinement (the toilet seat and safe storage under the seat), removal and transportation of faecal sludge, subsequent treatment and disposal or re-use.
  • The service delivery process: planning, construction, operation and maintenance, and subsequent renewal of service delivery elements.
  • Both hardware and software elements, particularly hygienic behaviour.

The paper is written by Joep Verhagen and Peter Ryan (IRC).

Verhagen_and_Ryan_IRC_Background-paper_Sanitation_Services_for_the_Urban_Poor[1].doc (732.0 kB)