As we commemorate and celebrate the World Health Day 2010 under the Uganda chapter, the theme spells out the reality as vividly possible to the challenges that increasing urbanization is and will continue to create in our country and in the world over.
Sanitation in Urban areas in Uganda
Growing urbanization and high population growth rate in Uganda has resulted in an upsurge of small urban centres with numerous informal settlements. These fast growing dense settlements place an enormous strain on planning and resources available. While the affluent have more choices on the kind of preferred sanitation system, the informal settlements are inhabited by the poorer segments of the society inhabiting the low lying swampy areas. Communities here experience particular sanitation challenges.
Low income hinders their ability to construct and or connect to water borne systems. The high water tables limit excavation of deep pit latrines. Residents tend to use either the elevated latrines constructed with steep ladders or flying toilets where waste is thrown over the fence or on to rooftops at night! A study on sanitation provision in urban centres in Uganda reported a 30% availability of latrines(Okot,2008).Landlords are not so often bothered to provide these facilities as part of the housing. Even where facilities are available, congested settlements and poor planning does not provide access for the cesspool emptying trucks to maneuver.
The poor quality and misuse of sanitation facilities increase the risk of disease transmission, water and environmental pollution and threaten the safety of users. The community structures in these peri-urban areas is complex and dynamic characterized by immigrants, temporary, unskilled and mobile persons, differences in day and night time population make it difficult for mobilization and behavior change. Many programmes have responded with more provision of public facilities, but their management remains a challenge to date.
Netwas Uganda with support from the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) under its Ecological Sanitation Research programme is implementing a project aimed at promoting sustainable sanitation development facilitating and co-coordinating capacity development and knowledge management.
It is the strongly held view that the solution or at least the 'highway' to a solution lies in the adoption of Sustainable Ecological sanitation especially that we are in a world which is becoming increasingly polluted from excreta, and where many of the world's population does not have access to a decent toilet at all, not enough land due to a rising population or proper housing to own their own toilet and the fact that no one may come to their aid!
Therefore we need to remember that the role of safe sanitation in alleviating poverty and improving health is widely recognized and reflected in the MDG target of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to basic sanitation by 2015.One possible reason why sanitation provision continues to lag far behind that of other services is the absence of effective sanitation policies which makes governments invest far less in sanitation provision that in water services.
Contact us at www.watsanuganda.watsan.net or on 0414 577 463
The Network for Water and Sanitation (NETWAS) Uganda was
Knowledge node on sustainability issues in sanitation in Uganda with the possibility of increasing outreach to other countries of East Africa. The expertise in SEI will support the knowledge node to clearly share and link with regional and international best practices.
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