Sanitation, Egypt and BLACD

Increasing access to safe water and basic sanitation are not only part of the Millennium

Development Goals but are effective tools for achieving sustainable development. In 2010, the Better Life Association for Comprehensive Development (BLACD), an Egyptian NGO, won an UN-sponsored World Habitat Award for their work on water and sanitation issues. In Egypt, many families lack basic latrines or piped water in their homes in addition to low levels of basic knowledge regarding hygienic practices. Prior to BLACD’s work in the El Minya Governate in the Nile Delta, many low-income families could not afford to have water and latrines installed in their homes. For these families, it was common for children to relieve themselves in the streets, for many hours of a woman’s day spent traveling great distances to fetch water from pumps that could be polluted with sewage, for women to wait until night risking their personal safety to relieve themselves in nearby fields or garbage dumps, and for their families to be highly exposed to preventable diseases due to contaminated water. The health and dignity of these families was compromised as was the water sources and land.

Since BLACD began working in this area, 6,000 families in 12 villages now have access to clean water and latrines in their homes. The project has been so successful that BLACD is working with local NGOs in the Philippines, South Africa and Tanzania to implement similar water and sanitation projects. There are several reasons why BLACD’s approach to this issue has been so successful. Their approach is rooted in community-driven interactions that include local grassroots organizations and emphasize women's participation. In addition, members of the community are trained to evaluate and create budgets for project sites and local workers are hired and trained to complete the projects using goods and transportation from local suppliers. The projects are funded using a revolving loan fund with low interest rates and have seen repayment rates of 98%.

The inclusion of women in the water and sanitation projects was met with some resistance from men who wanted to preserve traditional gender roles. However, women's involvement was a major reason of the success of the project. Since women are disproportionately responsible for household chores like cooking, washing clothes and fetching water, they suffer the most from the lack of latrines and clean water. They put themselves at great personal risk to preserve their dignity by waiting until night fall to walk far from their homes to relieve themselves. Not only are they at risk of sexual violence but many women suffer not only discomfort but also from kidney diseases and infection.

By targeting women for basic hygienic education regarding healthy sanitation and water practices, doctors have reported a drop in preventable diseases such as hepatitis A, skin infections and diarrheal diseases by nearly 90%. As well, BLACD recruits women to volunteer to promote sanitation awareness in their community. This has resulted in increased senses of empowerment and pride for these women. BLACD’s also creates local women’s community development associations for those who want to continue community activities after the projects are completed.

BLACD’s success can be attributed to the sustainable approach to their projects by:

*targeting and emphasizing the inclusion of women, the most marginalized yet largest stakeholders in sanitation and water which promotes empowerment

*coupling education with their projects to pass the knowledge to future generations

*using a system of low interest revolving loans so that more people can benefit

*creating development associations as a base for future activities

*training and hiring community members to evaluate and complete the projects using local materials and suppliers

*increasing the capacity of local organizations to create sustainable change

Photo credit: BLACD website (blacd.org)

The “Ugly Twin” of Millennium Development Goal 7.C: Sanitation

MDG Goal 7.C: Halve the proportion of the population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation.

Although these two issues are deeply intertwined, access to clean water over recent years has become the darling of the development ball so to speak, while access to improved sanitation has received notably less attention. Although the 2010 MDG Development Goals Report reveals that the world is on track to meet its drinking water goals by 2015, the likelihood that the sanitation goals will be met are slim. In fact, projections show that the number of people without access to improved sanitation will increase from 2.6 billion in 2008 to 2.7 billion in 2015. In 2008, this number reflects 48% of the developing population.

The biggest issue in tackling sanitation issues is open defecation which was the practice of an estimated 1.1 billion people in 2008. This practice not only denies a basic level of human dignity, it also has enormous negative health consequences and challenges the progress made on the first half of the MDG Goal 7.C.

Open defecation contaminates water supplies and continues cycles of diarrheal illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that these illnesses lead to approximately 1.5 million, often preventable, deaths every year. Notably, children under 5 make up a majority of these fatalities. Subsequently in areas lacking basic sanitation, water sources often become contaminated which further spreads these illnesses to others. It is important to recognize that diarrheal illness leads to developmental deficiencies, malnutrition, decreased time and energy to work, attend school and participate in society. WHO finds that improved sanitation decreases the death rate due to diarrhea by 1/3. Although some progress has been made, this chart shows there are significant challenges, specifically in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, to meet the MDG goal by 2015.

Solutions used in the global north to improve sanitation may not be feasible or appropriate in many countries for a variety of reasons. To create sustainable sanitation improvements, many organizations have found it to be more effective to develop solutions that reflect to the needs of a specific region. The following guidelines were proposed for areas affected by water scarcity by The Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis. They look to develop sanitation technology or solutions that use little or no water and prioritize clean water for drinking, cooking, etc. In addition, technology that can prevent the contamination of groundwater by human waste while harvesting outputs for farming or energy uses creates sustainable and healthy sanitation systems. By developing sustainable and appropriate practices to improve sanitation, not only can an improvement in quality of life be achieved but also results in the preservation and conservation of precious natural resources and the surrounding environment.

Images: MDG Development Report 2010, pg. 60