Recognising shared sanitation in global metrics and investment frameworks

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF’s Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) tracks global progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: “Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.” Its classifications influence global funding and policy priorities. Because of valid concerns that many shared sanitation facilities may be poorly designed and maintained, under current JMP definitions, even the best-managed shared sanitation is classified only as a “limited service”.

This means that no matter how safe, clean, or well-run these facilities are, they do not count as official progress towards the SDGs. This disincentivises the funding of these facilities by donors, investors, and governments, each of whom may prefer to support interventions that “count” within global metrics.

The need for recognition of high-quality shared sanitation within global monitoring frameworks is not a new argument. WSUP has been making the case for shared sanitation for years, and several influential thinkers in the sector wrote an OpEd pressing the case for high-quality shared sanitation to be accepted as an improvement for the purposes of the SDGs.

However, with groundbreaking evidence from MapSan of the health impacts of high-quality shared sanitation, the argument is stronger than ever. For policymakers and global bodies, it is time to refine the metrics.

This is, of course, a nuanced discussion. Reassessment must be grounded in reliable and trackable criteria for defining high-quality shared sanitation. Importantly, the evidence base here is also growing. The Quality Indicators for Shard Sanitation (QUISS) study, commissioned by WSUP and delivered by EAWAG, explores minimum criteria for high-quality shared sanitation based on assessments in Bangladesh, Ghana and Kenya. We’re also excited for the results of ongoing research in this area by University of North Carolina with funding from Habitat for Humanity International.

Supported by this evidence, in WSUP’s view, post-2030 global monitoring frameworks must establish a new category for high-quality shared sanitation, defined by strict standards of design, management, and hygiene. This shift would help unlock financing for solutions that work in the most challenging urban contexts.