Sanitation and Hygiene

The Third South Asia Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN 2008), organised by Government of India, was held in New Delhi, during November 16-21, 2008, with the theme as "Sanitation for Dignity and Health".

Report of steering committee on drinking water supply and sanitation for tenth five year plan

This paper by WaterAid India is an assessment of the drinking water and sanitation situation in the country in terms of coverage and financing gaps, if any, keeping the targets of the Millennium Development Goals as a benchmark for the assessment.

This paper by WaterAid India highlights the progress, key issues and challenges and recommendations for improving sanitation coverage with special focus on the poor. It is based on the experience of WaterAid India, other major sector agencies and NGOs and also takes into consideration the programme of state and national governments of India for sanitation promotion.

While recognizing that the urban sector is a State subject (administered by State governments), and water and sanitation are local issues with predominantly local solutions, the Government of India (GoI) believes it has an important and useful role to play in facilitating reforms in urban water supply and sanitation services. This is because:

"Innovations in Microfinance" Series

A debate on Private Sector approaches to Water Management for the poor provides a unique opportunity to learn about private sectro microfinance approaches to water management that have been used for a range of purposes from purchasing household water connections and clean water storage units, like rainwater harvesting tanks to the construction of household latrines.

The debate sponsored by the Citi Foundation & Arc Finance is to be held at the New York Asia Society and Museum. The event can also be accessed via a free live video webcast. More details below the fold.

Approximately 1.1 billion people lack clean water supplies and 2.7 billion have no access to proper sanitation. To combat conditions that lead to sickness and disease, low income families across Asia are asking for clean water and improved sanitation to keep their families healthy and productive. Sophisticated modern piped water networks are too expensive for most developing countries and poor people living in the slums often pay 5 to 10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city. Sensing a business opportunity, microfinance organizations are beginning to explore the market for making water more accessible to the poor.

This database aims to evolve suitable policy in the field of water supply and sanitation sector and is useful in analyzing the data for implementing suitable programmes in India. As a first step, it was proposed to collect data for all 423 Class I cities in the country, as per census 2001 in the already devised and approved formats for Water Supply Sewerage and Solid Waste Management.

The Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) is a technical wing of the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, and deals with the matters related to urban water supply and sanitation including solid waste management in the country. 

The PAHELI report (Peoples' Audit of Health Education and Livelihoods) is a rapid assessment of the prevailing status of human development in a district and covers four major sectors: life and livelihoods, water and sanitation, mother and child health, and education and literacy. The design and execution of PAHELI was done by Pratham and PAHELI district partners.