Sanitation and Hygiene

The India WASH Forum (IWF), a coalition of individuals representing an independent credible voice in the water and sanitation sector that is aligned to the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), supported the launch of the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) in India, to assist the people of the country, who do not have adequate access to clean water and sanitation.

A launch workshop of the Global Sanitation Fund was organised on 4th August 2009 in New Delhi, by the India WASH Forum, to discuss GSF programme priorities and its implementation structure for India. Representatives of national and international organisations, Government of India, as well as sector experts participated in the workshop.

The newsletter explores the ways in which national laws, court pronouncements and judgements and international commitments can be interpreted to imply a right to water and sanitation.

Specific articles cover:

-Individual court cases and Supreme Court pronouncements

The special track on Sanitation today was the best part of the whole series of sessions. Insightful and sometimes funny, like this one. Here is a story about the "WC" as meant by a british woman intending to travel to india, and as understood by her probable indian host.

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.

The various initiatives taken up include installing sensors/push type tap for hand wash/urinals, close loop hydro testing, installing drip irrigation and sprinklers for garden, installing float valves for old overhead tank, using percolated rain water for process, use of AC condensed water, use of air cooled instead of water cooled compressors, treating waste water and more.

In an earlier post Microfinance for Water - How would it Work? I had put up a picture of a woman drawing water out from a pit.

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.

The Big Necessity - The unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters By Rose George