Sanitation Flashcards
2015 UN stats
- 2.4 billion lack access to basic sanitation services
- 892 million practice open defecation
What are the two main catergories to sanitation provisions?
- “Off-site” (Sewer network)
- “On-site” (latrines or septic tanks)
Why may only improving the accessiblity of sanitation services such as public washrooms not help?
Building more hygience services may create secondary issues, such as the operation, management, disposal of waste and long term cost
“Night Soil”
- Collected and traded globally
- Originally used as a fertiliser but was replaced by cheap fertilisers and public health concerns
- Collection involved marginilised, migrant, low-income workers
Who are the unseen workers?
Sanitiation workers, especially “pit-emptiers” or “sweepers” in developing countries
Key findings in Indian and Bagladesh studies
- Fear of job loss due to mechanisation
- One-off training
- Stigma and discrimination
- Not recognised as work if female
- no government support
- Deaths and injuries common
Opportunites
- Decreasing manual scavaging
- PPE imporvement
- Cooperatives, worker unions
- alliances between WASH and Labour right organisations
- Government schemes
- Internation initivitive for sanitiation workers
What does WASH stand for?
water, sanitation and hygiene
Paper?
Sustainable sanitation jobs: prospects for enhancing the livelihoods of pit-emptiers in Bangladesh
Mariam Zaqout etc (2021)
What % in the world has access to some form of toilet?
82%
What does this study focus on?
Bangladesh, and uses 6 case studies across three operation nodes (Private business, goverment workers and self-employed)
What happened in July 2008?
Three pit-empitiers died in a septic tank due to toxic fumes
How many Pit-empitiers live in Bangladesh?
5 million and usually in “pit-empitier colonies”, with christian, hindu and muslim populations
Which population is usually preferred and are the only ones allowed to work for the government?
Muslim
How many in the case study workers were female?
None
