Sanitation Isn't Everyone’s Business. Or Is it??

 The article below 1st appeared in the Zambia Daily Mail Newspaper of 26th November 2022.

“Sanitation is everyone’s business.”

Those were the words of Vice President W.K. Mutale Nalumango as she officially opened the Second Sanitation Summit held in Lusaka on 18^th and 19^th November 2022 under the theme The Sanitation Economy: Making the Invisible Visible.

Organized by the Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation and its partners in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector, the purpose of the summit was to stimulate political and technocratic will on existing commitments made during the First National Sanitation Summit in November 2018 and to accelerate action aimed at improving sanitation and hygiene services for all and ending open defecation by 2030.

Participants were drawn from the Government, Traditional Leadership, the United Nations, Cooperating Partners, Non-Governmental Organizations, academia, private sector, and the media.

The event was deliberately timed to coincide with commemoration of World Toilet Day on 19^th November, a day that reminds us of urgent need to tackle the sanitation crisis. Resolutions from the summit will be codified into a Statement of Action that will help Government and other stakeholders implement the various commitments to improve sanitation in the country. 

Like other UN members, Zambia has signed up to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), all of which have to be attained by 2030. SDG 6 enjoins member countries to ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Zambia is behind on this goal of ensuring safe toilets for all by 2030. That is why it is important for all stakeholders in the WASH sector, with strong Government leadership, to implement the various commitments and national strategies to improve the state of sanitation in the country.

Although the United Nations officially recognised access to sanitation as a human right 12 years ago through Resolution 15/9, many people still lack access to safely managed sanitation. Many do not even have a decent toilet of their own. 

Safely managed sanitation is the bedrock to protecting groundwater and positively contributes to good health outcomes. The failure by one household to construct a proper septic tank or pit latrine frustrates not only current aspirations but also the future ability to access clean and safe groundwater.

To achieve progress, all stakeholders should understand their obligations and responsibilities to reach everyone with sanitation services, hence the clarion call by the Vice President that “sanitation is everyone’s business.”

Sanitation is  not just about a clean environment.  The Sanitation Economy has the potential of monetising toilet provision, products and services to provide benefits across businesses and society. This can be done in many ways such as converting faeces to fertilizer and biogas and supporting the entire sanitation value chain.

There are several windows of opportunity for the sanitation subsector.

For instance, taking advantage of the increase in Constituency Development Fund (CDF), local authorities could scale up sanitation efforts and partner with private sector to achieve sustainable service delivery. The increase in CDF thus presents unlimited opportunities for the private sector and local authorities to tackle some of the sanitation challenges communities face.

Most, if not all, of the mushrooming informal settlements in Zambia are not connected to either water or sewerage systems, leaving that to individuals as they construct their houses.

In addition, most families still rely on privately-owned boreholes and shallow wells which – if not properly managed – are often contaminated with raw sewage.

Commercial utility companies have the mandate to inspect and ensure property developers comply with prescribed guidelines in the construction of water and sanitation facilities. However, enforcement remains inadequate and in some cases absent.

Non-traditional markets such as rural areas have for a long time been considered unattractive to private sector due to their perceived lack of profitability. But with appropriate risk management tools, market assessments and linkages, private sector should be encouraged to enter rural markets and provide sanitation services. 

Promoting the sanitation economy is not a zero-sum game but a win–win situation, protecting groundwater against faecal contamination whilst making a livelihood out of it.

Investing in sanitation has positive economic returns like creating jobs and contributing to energizing the economy. Failure to invest in sanitation has a huge negative impact on a nation’s economy through mortality and morbidity arising from diarrheal diseases caused by contaminated groundwater.