Sanitation services for the urban poor : partnerships and governance : IRC symposium 2008 proceedings

With the urban population now surpassing rural population, redressing the problems of poor urban sanitation has become one of the most urgent and challenging tasks in the WASH sector. Achieving sustainable sanitation services for the urban poor gives impetus to a better quality of life and when brought to scale, has great potential to transform societies and advance economies. If left unaddressed however, human development and growth are restricted and the debilitating effects are felt most acutely in areas where populations are growing fastest – that is, in urban slums. This book brings together some of the most advanced thinking and indeed potential ways forward in tackling these issues. It is based on papers and discussions presented during the IRC Symposium 2008, Sanitation for the Urban Poor: Partnerships and Governance, held in Delft, The Netherlands, at the close of the International Year of Sanitation in 2008. Hosted by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, the symposium brought together 80 practitioners, analysts and policy makers from around the world with an interest in sharing their experiences, insights and proposals for addressing these challenges. This publication comprises a selection of papers from the symposium and is accompanied by a DVD containing papers and video interviews conducted with participants. With a Foreword written by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairperson of BRAC, this book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in understanding the problems of urban sanitation; learning about examples of best practice and building comprehension of the requirements for positively transforming the situation in future. [authors abstract]