Action in sanitation is non-negotiable for achieving all 17 SDG.

Working with WaterAid and colleagues across UCL, we explored how safe sanitation would help achieve the SDGs, and then developed a policy brief for policy makers in Africa to identify and realise the benefits from these synergies.

A cross-disciplinary team of UCL experts from sustainability, health, planning, engineering, policy and social sciences reviewed more than 500 publications to identify and evidence the links between sanitation and each of the 169 Targets within the 17 SDGs. We found synergies between parts of the sanitation process (e.g., excreta capture, storage, transport, treatment, re-use/disposal) and 130 (77%) of these targets (see image 1). These links/synergies were wide-ranging for targets related to health, education, the economy, climate change, and gender and equity, but were apparent across all 17 of the Goals.

Image 1: Synergies between action in sanitation and the 169 SDG Targets across the 17 SDG (Parikh et al, 2021)

The study resonated with WaterAid's work to provide clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to underserved communities globally. Having demonstrated the huge number of ways that sanitation can contribute to achieving the SDGs, our team, led by UCL’s Engineers for International Development Centre, worked in partnership with WaterAid to identify new pathways to harness the far-reaching benefits of investing in safe sanitation. 

We wanted to make the academic research accessible to policy makers and practitioners in Africa and globally. We co-developed practical guides such as a policy brief and case studies to facilitate dialogue between policy makers and practitioners for fostering investment and action to improve sanitation. 

Two features of the process were at the core of transforming our evidence into useful materials for policy development, advocacy and programme design. The first was bringing in a wide group of stakeholders for co-development workshops. In Africa, these included the African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), African Development Bank, World Bank and the End Water Poverty coalition of non-governmental organisations. We also realised it was important to find visual ways to convey how action in sanitation connects multiple SDG Targets, while retaining the complexity of these interlinkages. Image one is an example of this.

To help realise the synergies we had identified between sanitation action and all 17 SDGs, the UCL and WaterAid collaboration outlined three principles for policy development, advocacy and programme design in the policy brief. These were to:  

1. achieve multiple benefits;
2. identify commonly missed opportunities; and
3. leverage equitable outcomes.

To provide practical insights into these principles, the extended version of the policy brief includes case studies of three integrated sanitation interventions that use the above principles in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Principle 1 (achieving multiple benefits) can be applied in national development plans that link action in sanitation to progress in health, education and climate change. An example is Project Malio, a community-led project by the charity SEED Madagascar to support the construction and improvement of sanitation infrastructure in Tolanaro (formerly Port-Dauphin). It shows how improved access to sanitation facilities has the potential to impact targets across six SDGs, including SDG3: Good Heath & Wellbeing)  SDG13: Climate Action and SDG4: Quality Education.

The second principle highlights the potential of action on sanitation to harness commonly missed opportunities for innovation, livelihoods and sustainable resource use. This was illustrated by the National Integrated Urban Sanitation and Hygiene Strategy in Ethiopia led by its Ministry of Health.

This included the development of an overarching integrated strategy supporting decentralised sanitation systems and sanitation-related micro-enterprises, with job creation in and outside of the public sector. By linking sanitation to productivity and industry, this principle can be applied to reinforce bids for funding and initiatives to increase investment in sanitation.

Similarly, legal frameworks, strategies and funding bids can follow the third principle to ensure leveraging the multiplicity of synergies between equity and sanitation interventions. The third case study showcases WaterAid's latrine artisan training in Ghana. This is a programme that created livelihood opportunities for women and expanded women’s participation in decision-making processes for sanitation.

The principles are a tool that both functions as a compass for policy, programme and strategy development and to bolster investment and political will to advance the goal of safe sanitation for all.

Furthermore, through the case studies that exemplify each principle, practitioners can show real-life examples of the potential of following the principles in policies and interventions at different governmental levels and geographies.

The core UCL team was: Professor Priti Parikh and Dr Loan Diep (UCL Engineering for International Development Centre); Dr Pascale Hofmann, Dr Kerry Bobbins and Maria Jose Nieto (UCL Development Planning Unit); Professor Luiza Campos (UCL Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering); Professor Monica Lakhanpaul (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health); and Dr Ine Steenmans (UCL Science, Technology, Engineering & Public Policy). 

WaterAid team was: Dedo Mate-Kodjo (Pan Africa Programme Manager) and Ada Oko-Williams (Senior WASH Manager).