Health

The policy paper examines the condition of community toilet in terms of its infrastructure, operation & maintenance, uses and payment of user charges. The paper is a result of a joint collaboration between Water for Asian Cities (WAC) Programme of UN-HABITAT and the Directorate of Urban Administration & Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh.

In Madhya Pradesh, WAC is supporting Asian Development Bank-financed project in cities of Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur to improve and expand urban water and sanitation services. This study has been taken up to monitor implementation of the water and sanitation related targets.

This article shows how women are catalysts for advocating widespread improved sanitation and – at the same time – reap substantial benefits in a program promoted by an NGO called Gandhigram Trust. The empowerment of women and marginalized populations is a vital step in realizing gender equality – equal access, planning, and management – for water and sanitation.

Through a maze of winding, curving roads off a main highway in Tamil Nadu, one must travel to reach the small, agrarian village of Muthampatti.

Priyadarshini, or Priya to friends, wanders inquisitively around a large cement pad where a group of about thirty women and men are gathering to create a map of their village using a colored chalk powder called Rangoli.

Ashok Jaitly, Water Resources Department, TERI
Policy issues in water conservation

Habil Attarwala, Furaat Earth Ltd., Gujarat

During conflicts and wars, many die as a consequence of bombings and battles. To the death toll, many more zeroes get added in the days and months to follow! Poor hygiene and sanitation takes several hundred lives in the refugee settlements.

This report includes the findings of the ASHWAS  survey (A Survey of Household Water and Sanitation),  a participatory survey carried out by Arghyam, that  included  28 districts of Karnataka covering more than 17,200 households across 172 gram panchayats (GPs). This was a peoples' survey, and the surveyors were selected from the respective communities that included students, women from self help groups, local NGO partners and other volunteers.

A consultation was organised by Arghyam Trust in September 2009, to share experiences on Sustainable and Ecological Sanitation with the Planning Commission.

Prakash Kumar, an ecological sanitation consultant with UNICEF/Stockholm Institute provides an update on some recent work on ecological sanitation in India:

====

1. We are in the process of supporting I I T Delhi for nutrient recovery project for developing complete process for converting liquid urine in to the crystalline form.
2. We are in the final stage of supporting SCOPE for demonstration of ecosan toilet in a govt. middle school at Musiri, Trichy.
3. Comprehensive evaluation of Tamilnadu ecosan project will be taken up shortly.
4. Last batch of training of CCDU officials have been completed . This year total 5 batches got training on ecosan.

WSSCC Member Flash
Periodic updates for WSSCC members on hot and late-breaking topics   

Global Handwashing Day Special Edition

The practice of handwashing with soap has been prominent in the last few years on the international hygiene agenda. The second annual Global Handwashing Day takes place on Thursday, 15 October 2009 in countries all over the world, including countries where WSSCC is active through its National WASH Coalitions. The guiding vision of Global Handwashing Day is a local and global culture of handwashing with soap. Although people around the world wash their hands with water, very few wash their hands with soap at critical moments (for example, after using the toilet, while cleaning a child, and before handling food).