Papers from the East Africa Practioners’ workshop on pro-poor urban sanitation and hygiene
Each paper includes an abstract providing the reader with a clear idea on the context of the paper or photo presentation.
Children as effective change agents – the case of school health clubs in the promotion of sanitation and hygiene (Uganda)
Through its School WASH initiative, WaterAid in Uganda (WAU) launched a project called “A Life Saving Lesson for School Children in Uganda” in partnership with SIMAVI. The project has been implemented in Buwama and Amuria Town Councils by Busoga trust and Wera Development Agency (WEDA). This project together with the initiative by WAU’s other partner – Community Integrated Development Initiative (CIDI) in Kampala slums, provides insights into how children can be effective agents for positive change in urban sanitation and hygiene. The components of the projects included: construction/provision of sanitation and hygiene facilities (10,000-15,000 litre Ferro Cement Tanks, VIP latrines with provisions for girls’ washrooms, hand washing facilities, dust bins, cleaning equipment); formation of School Health Clubs (SHCs) (Include 4 teachers), awareness creation for school pupils on acceptable sanitation and hygiene behaviors; community sensitization meetings: trainings for School Management Committee and Parents and Teachers Association members in the relationship between education and WASH, promotion of Information, Education and Communication (IEC); leadership training and community awareness campaigns. Key techniques used were talking compounds, music, dance and drama shows, learning visits, debate sessions, pictures/posters, home visits, radio talk shows, community campaigns, plus school competitions.
The projects were implemented in 7 schools in Amuria, 10 schools in Buwama and 5 schools for the Lubaga School WASH Project (LUSSAP) Phase III in Kampala. The WaterAid – SIMAVI project benefited at least 15,249, with over 60% of these as direct beneficiaries (School children). The Lubaga School WASH project on the other hand targeted 3,439 school children and a number of others as community members and school teachers. By the end of the project the planned targets were achieved. Many school children and teachers were able to enhance their knowledge and skills in sanitation and hygiene. All the people in the schools were able to access safe water and adequate sanitation and hygiene through the use of the facilities provided in the schools.
11. Children as effective change agents.pdf (813.9 kB)
Harnessing the power of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and sanitation marketing in promoting urban poor sanitation – lessons from GTZ/JICA/CIDI pilot project in Nateete parish informal settlements, Kampala District (Uganda)
With about 2.6 billion people without access to improved sanitation facilities in the world and approximately 4 billion cases of diarrhoea each year causing 2.2 million deaths mostly among children under the age of five on the African continent. Diarrhoea is now the biggest killer of children under five, deaths that are preventable through access to sanitation, hygiene education and clean water. Despite the noticeable benefits of improved sanitation, free and subsidized sanitation facilities are often times abandoned or otherwise abused within a short time of being set up as users share no sense of ownership and expect that new free facilities will be provided. The photo presentation focused on how GTZ through RUWASS entered a Public-private partnership (PPP) with CIDI, JICA, Equity Bank and Poly Fibre to produce and distribute sanitation facilities designed for the specific needs of the urban poor.
The population of Nateete informal settlements are using the principles of sanitation marketing to promote ownership and stimulate demand for sanitation. The results from this partnership showed that there was a 30% increase in sanitation coverage and a 45% increase in critical hand washing. Also recorded was that 70% of respondents reported reduction in water and sanitation related diseases after the pilot project. This collaboration reflects that public private partnership coupled with sanitation marketing principles can stimulate urban poor’s demand for sustainable sanitation facilities with minimal or without subsides.
Costs of sanitation for the urban poor – Dar es Salaam perspective (Tanzania)
Dar es Salaam is Tanzania’s largest and most important industrial and commercial centre with an estimated population of about 4 million in 2010 which is approximately ten percent of the country’s total population. In terms of challenges, the city has a large infrastructure backlog causing shortfalls in service delivery and does not have the capacity to effectively cope with its rapid growth. This paper provides a number of key recommendations which include: the establishment of a special fund for sewerage infrastructure development in which the privileged who are enjoying the use sewerage system built by public funds should also contribute by raising the tariff they currently pay; the suggestion that the sanitation department within the City should be independent, and not merge with water supply department; and finally that government, development partners and the public at large should put more emphasis and inject more -funding into urban sanitation for the poor to reduce the hardship the poor currently endure.
Community sanitation struggles – case of UCLTS in Mathare No. 10 (Kenya)
Mathare 10, is a community located in Nairobi about five kilometers from the Nairobi Central Business District. It has a population of about 15,000 people. Mathare 10 is located within the larger area known as Mathare Valley which is the second largest slum in Kenya. Mathare valley is about four decades old with the oldest settlers being the Mau Mau fighters. Urban Community Led Total Sanitation (UCLTS) is the approach that is being used in Mathare which facilitates the community to understand the resources available within them. People are able to know the dangers of poor sanitation and hygiene and develop solutions to address these problem. This presentation describes the UCLTS approach and how it works in Mathare. It also describes an innoviate approach to maintaining clean toilets through the Community Cleaning Services (CCS) which is a social enterprise that works with young entrepreneurs (and their teams) in low income areas and informal settlements in Nairobi and helps them establish (through training and mentoring) cleaning businesses that provide sanitation services in their communities.
14. Photo essay UCLTS in Mathare No. 10.pdf (999.7 kB)
Leveraging impact at scale through innovative financing for slum sanitation: PPPs, microcredit schemes and local entrepreneurship concept for slum sanitation in Uganda
The German Technical Cooperation (now GIZ) and the Ministry of Water and Environment in partnership with Kampala City Council (KCC) and two local NGOs developed a home-led sanitation investment financing concept aimed at improving toilet coverage in slums while the owner investment in public pay-and-use toilets and school toilets was allowed for demonstration, information, education and communication purposes to ensure a multiplier effect. Key to the concept was ensuring sustainability through stimulating demand, maximising responsibility and ownership by stakeholders and utilising subsidies as a facilitative kick-start for scaling-up.
GIZ and the local Ministry entered into a public-private partnership with Crestanks and Poly Fibre, two local private companies producing modular plastic toilets, to offer a range of sanitation and hygiene products within the income means and meeting needs of the urban poor in two selected slums in Kampala City. At the community level, sanitation marketing campaigns (focusing on landlords and women entrepreneurs and also targeting schools, religious and cultural institutions) were coupled with hygienic awareness creation, bye-law enforcement and appropriate financing that included micro credit schemes. Another financing method used was the easy product acquisition arrangements through instalment purchasing (including payments through mobile phone banking/deposits). In both the micro credit and instalment purchase financing mechanisms, partners forged alliances with NGOs, financial institutions, public authorities and the beneficiary community so as to complement their different interests. The project also trained masons from the local community.
The local sanitation entrepreneurs acquired toilets and could fully recover their investment from revenues; they continued to expand their business on their own by serving a variety of hygiene needs like showers and laundry. Within the two years of the project, 75 complete toilet blocks were constructed, 45 toilet blocks rehabilitated. Scaling-up of the concept is on track with lessons drawn from the pilot incorporated in the new 10-year Improved Sanitation and Hygiene (ISH) Strategy by the Ministry of Water and Environment for the small towns in Uganda.
15. Impact at scale through innovative financing.pdf (389.3 kB)
Promotion of hygiene and sanitation in Northern Uganda by Water and Sanitation Development Facility North (Uganda)
Water and Sanitation Development Facility-North is providing water supply and sanitation facilities in the northern districts of Uganda. The programme covers three sub regions of West Nile, Acholi and Lango with 23 districts. The Water and Sanitation Development Facility North (WSDF-N) is a government of Uganda programme of Ministry of Water and Environment. WSDF-N is under Urban Water and Sewerage Services Department (UWSSD) of Directorate of Water Development (DWD).
In terms of lessons learned in the five towns which are the subject of this paper, there are many pressing priorities. There is little attention paid to hygiene and sanitation activities which therefore entails constant sensitization to the community members. In terms of other key lessons, enforcement of the ordinances and by-laws by the trained enforcement officers and other responsible officers is needed in helping to improve hygiene and sanitation in northern Uganda. Another lesson is the provision of piped water and sanitation facilities which must move together. There is a need to have subsidies for especially poor communities whom need sanitation facilities. Another lesson is that WSDF-N Facility needs a standard and a strategy for sanitation facility provision among the community members. Finally, construction of Ecosan toilets is increasing with 15 Ecosan privately constructed in the towns. However; the community members who want to construct Ecosan toilets are challenged to access Ecopans. Ecopans are not readily available to the public and they are expensive, and therefore not affordable to many people. One final lesson is therefore that there is need to procure Ecopans in large numbers and to train masons to implement them.
16. Promotion of S&H in Northern Uganda.pdf (517.1 kB)
Supporting secondary urban centres in the Lake Victoria region to contribute to millennium development goals’ achievement: the experience of using systematic action research for capacity development in sanitation in Kyotera town council
The Governments of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, in association with UN-HABITAT, launched in 2004 the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation (LVWATSAN) Programme, an initiative geared towards addressing the water and sanitation needs of poor people living within 11 towns around the Lake Victoria region. This initiative has been designed to achieve Millennium Development Goal targets for water and sanitation in small growth centres and has a clear pro-poor focus. Within this context, the Netherlands Development Organisation, SNV, in a partnership consortium that includes UNESCO-IHE (Institute for Water Education), the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA) and NETWAS International as the local/regional capacity builder, developed and implemented the Training and Capacity Building Programme for the LVWATSAN Programme. The capacity development activities were formulated in response to specific circumstances, actors and issues in each town.
Initial enquiries in Kyotera Town Council were made to identify issues, actors, and their mutual relations. Subsequently a capacity development programme was developed, comprising 27 courses in 5 thematic areas: water, sanitation and environment, pro-poor governance, gender and vulnerable groups, and local economic development. The main contentsof the course focused on the vulnerable and poor women and men, town institutions and organisations, service coverage and quality, public engagement and access, and public investment and processes. The main approach used capacity development and has been training/ targeting 2,990 people in the towns. The target groups included members of the multi-stakeholder forum, local and district local governments, water and sanitation providers, local entrepreneurs, non-governmental organisations, community based organisations, male and female citizens, users, and vulnerable groups. This was supplemented by ongoing inquiry and evidence gathering as well as coaching programmes, exposure visits, peer-to-peer support and mentoring. In addition, capacity development emphasized knowledge development and sharing.
17. Cap. dev. in sanitation for secondary urban centres.pdf (648.7 kB)
EcoSan the recycling sanitation and agricultural system. The case of Ethiopian and some Eastern African countries
A group of activists and academicians from different disciplines in Sweden, Ethiopia and Kenya founded the NGO called Society for Urban Development in East Africa (SUDEA). Through this organisation the first concept for Economical, Ecological Sanitation (ECOSAN) was spelled out. Ethiopia was the first country chosen to do a pilot project of ECOSAN in 1996, with an integrated approach of all biodegradable substances from the household including human excreta. The system was designed and spelled out to recycle all biodegradable substances from the household including human excreta in a safe and clean manner.
The main objective of the ECOSAN project was to show the do-ability of using specifically human excreta as fertilizer and producing food, fodder, flower and/or forest (4F). Through the introduction of urban agriculture or home gardening, the project initiators learnt how to empower women with natural resource management from the household. This has shown to be a very good income generating method for poor peri-urban households. As any integrated approach, awareness creation and monitoring with respect have been crucial.
18. EcoSan sanitation and agricultural system.pdf (555.4 kB)
Small doable actions targeting hygiene improvement in vulnerable households (poor urban and rural households (Kenya)
HIP is a USAID funded programme in Kenya that was initiated in December 2009 under the Academy for Education & Development (AED) regional office of Eastern and Central Africa. This is a programme that came up due to an expressed need in hygiene practices improvement targeting vulnerable households that include but are not limited to the HIV infected and affected households which are predominantly poor in the urban and rural settings in Kenya. At the initiation of the HIP program in Kenya, there existed no programme that was specifically targeting the officers in the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation who are trained in Public Health. The government approach has been traditionally to pass information to the communities and to expect them to carry out hygiene activities as stipulated by law. However, the HIP programme introduces a new approach to the promotion of hygiene - Small Doable Actions. This approach assesses the hygiene levels of the communities and encourages them to improve on hygiene through negotiations on small actions within the household that have been tried, tested and accepted in a given community.
The biggest challenge to the HIP programme was the acceptance of the programme within the country as it is a “software” only program as compared to many traditionally implemented programs that focus on hardware with software considered “just an add-on”. Another challenge that the programme faced was the acceptance of the Small Doable Approach – negotiation by the public health officers who are trained and oriented to enforcing law. A number of examples of small doable actions include: using leaky tins for hand washing stations, improvised commodes for weak but mobile patients, re-usable pieces of old clean fabrics for menstrual management; and using pots with spigots for safe storage and retrieval of water. In terms of lessons learnt, this approach is the start of attitude change related to hygiene practices. It is meant to facilitate behavior change leading towards a reprioritization of hygiene and improved practices in the household level. The way forward for this approach is integrating it into existing work and using the existing framework and personnel to ensure its sustainability.
19. Small doable actions for hygiene improvement.pdf (470.9 kB)
De-mystifying Geospatial Technology: A case study on capacity building in GIS & GPS, Kibera (Nairobi)
This photo essay discusses capacity building for geographic information systems (GIS) and global positioning systems (GPS) for technical and managerial level staff from Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC), Water Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP), and the Umande Trust. GIS allows practitioners to collect key information and represent it as a map while GPS is a very quick and relatively accurate way to collect coordinates and to navigate in the field. Traditional maps produced by WSUP, Umande & NCWSC were found to have no scale, legend and few labels of existing and proposed features; they did not illustrate the mapped WASH schemes clearly. A capacity building for GIS & GPS was hence proposed to help the project WASH staff to create and update new maps that clearly illustrate any planned/new WASH project.
A mapping capacity building workshop was carried out in one intensive week. It included an overview of GIS & GPS applications and limitations; class demonstrations and tutorials in ArcGIS specifically on a current WASH project; as well as learning how to collect and verify GPS data collected on a site visit to Kibera. Trained staff learned how to navigate and collect data using a GPS; understand the limitations of the technology and the risks involved in ‘blindly’ using secondary sources of geospatial data. They made clear project maps with all the features a reader needs to independently orientate himself and identify key features. For example, one map created by the team from the Umande Trust represented health data geospatially, allowing them to track health indicators in their project area.
