A joint post by Prof. Shyama V. Ramani and Dr. Sanae Okamoto ‘The road to hell,’ goes the age-old proverb ‘is paved with good intentions’. In the 21st century, there can be no clearer example of this than the millions of underused or abandoned toilets in the developing world built for Sustainable Development Goal 6 on Clean Water and Sanitation. Yes, technology and innovation can speed up economic growth and inclusive development, but they are clearly NOT enough. What’s missing, say Prof. Shyama...
Today is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, and in homage to his philosophy and strategy of non-violence, the UN has marked it as the International Day of Non-Violence. In India, the countdown has also begun for 2 October 2019, the target date set to attain the Swachh Bharat or Clean India Mission (SBM). The SBM has the noble intention of making India ‘open defecation free’ (ODF) and millions of low-cost toilets are being built across the country towards this aim. But, to achieve the ODF mis...
A joint post by Rushva Parihar and Dorcas Mbuvi. … An estimated 2.4 billion people still do not have access to proper sanitation, of which about 1 billion still defecate in the open. These figures represent the enormous challenge of achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 and its specific target to “achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation” by 2030. Critically, reaching unserved populations at scale will require low-cost sanit...