Sustainable Water and Sanitation in Sierra Leone: Impact evaluation of the ‘Improved WASH Services in WAU and WAR Districts’ project

Between October 2016 and March 2019, the Freetown WASH Consortium, led by Oxfam with Against Hunger, Concern Worldwide and Save the Children as members, carried out the 'Improved WASH Services in Western Area Urban (WAU) and Western Area Rural (WAR) Districts' project. Broadly, the project aimed to improve the availability, accessibility, affordability and sustainability of integrated water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, in alignment with the Government of Sierra Leone's national agenda on Ebola recovery and increased preparedness against possible future outbreaks. This Effectiveness Review evaluates the success of this project to increase the sustainability of water and sanitation systems and services. Using a quasi-experimental, mixed method evaluation design, impact is assessed among individuals, households and communities in intervention and comparison areas. Community-level factors contributing to better individual- and household-level outcomes are explored. Find out more by reading the full report now.

Examining the Role of NGOs in Community Water and Sanitation Improvement

This chapter examined the role of NGOs in water and sanitation improvement and the effects on the residence of Tunayilli in the Sagnarigu District. The design was descriptive. Questionnaires and interview guides were administered to household heads and key informants. Findings revealed that the water and sanitation condition in Tunayilli is generally poor. NGOs play diverse roles including the provision of water and sanitation facilities, community mobilization, and facility maintenance to ensure their sustained usability. However, inadequate funding, weak community mobilization, poor maintenance culture, and low education are challenges to water and sanitation improvement programmes of NGOs in the community. Measures to mitigate these includes increased central government funding, public education, community involvement, enforcement of sanitation by-laws, and regular maintenance of water and sanitation systems in the community. Stakeholders should intensify and sustain their educational campaigns. Meanwhile, by-laws on water and sanitation should be enforced and offenders prosecuted.

Durban Community's Experiences of Class-Based Urinary Diversion Toilets

The aim of this chapter is to look at the integrated water resources management (IWRM)-related institutional shift in governance of water and sanitation in Durban and the extent to which class is considered in providing rural inhabitants with facilities they regard as sub-standard. The key finding is that rural communities remain uncomfortable with nearly 90,000 UD toilets constructed by eThekwini Municipality, despite current efforts being made to relieve them of the most hated chores of emptying vaults when they fill up. In a study conducted in rural areas of Durban through interviews with 70 households and focus group discussions, communities continue to reject UDs on the grounds of lack of equity, proximity to areas with flush toilets, lack of communication, and lack of sustainable institutional mechanisms associated with this project.

Technical and Scale Efficiency of the Brazilian Municipalities’ Water and Sanitation Services: A Two-Stage Data Envelopment Analysis

Seeking to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” is an admirable Sustainable Development Goal and an honourable commitment of the United Nations and its Member States regarding the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation services (WSSs). However, the majority of countries are not on target to achieve this by 2030, with several of them moving away from the best practices. Brazil is one of these cases, given, for example, the existing asymmetries in the access to water supply and sanitation service networks. For this reason, we propose a benchmarking exercise using a two-stage Data Envelopment Analysis to measure the technical and scale efficiency of the Brazilian municipalities’ WSSs, noting their contextual environment. Our results point towards low mean efficiency scores, motivated by the existence of significant scale inefficiencies (the vast majority of municipalities are operating at a larger than optimal scale). Furthermore, the Water source was found to be a statistically significant efficiency predictor, with statistically significant differences found in terms of Ownership and Geography. Ultimately, we suggest policy-making and regulatory possibilities based on debureaucratization, the implementation of stricter expenditure control policies, and investment in the expansion of WSSs.

Access to water and sanitation in brazilian regions

The lack of urban planning combined with the disorderly occupation of large urban centers results in the lack of sanitation services. This condition generates harmful impacts on social well-being and natural resources. The water crisis in Brazilian regions imposed by the serious pollution of water bodies triggers a series of conflicts related to water scarcity and multiple uses. The present study aims to verify the consequences in the generation of diseases in the face of sanitation conditions in Brazilian regions. The method used in this work is descriptive with a qualitative approach. Indicators related to the share of the population with access to water and sewage collection and hospitalizations due to waterborne diseases in the Brazilian regions were analyzed. The sanitation indicators are intended to measure the impacts generated and provide information that can help in the management and sustainable use of water resources in order to establish priority actions for public policies. As a result, it is observed that the issue of universal sanitation that emerges from this discussion should be of interest to the national policy agenda, considering the negative externalities arising from the lack of this service. This argument is based on promoting the dignity of human life as advocated by the 2030 Agenda. It is important to highlight the implications of the precariousness of access to water and sanitation in the context of productive activities and income generation, since the health of workers in the regions most deprived of these services tends to be precarious.