Setting the Sanitation Scene

Welcome to my blog! In this introductory post I aim to outline water, sanitation and Africa, how they are interlinked and why I decided to pick this theme.

What is/Why Sanitation

Since 2010, sanitation has been officially decreed a fundamental human right. Though the world "sanitation" has many meanings, the World Health Organisation defines it as the "provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and faeces" as well as the "maintenance of hygienic conditions through services such as garbage collection and wastewater disposal". "Availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation" is also the UN's SDG number 6 - having the potential to massively further development. 

Disposal at my disposal

As someone who has always had flushing toilets, clean drinking water straight out the tap and even bins for feminine hygiene products in public toilets, sanitation and accessibility to hygienic conditions have always been easily accessible - something I don't even consider, or really appreciate. Although I know that a significant percentage of the global population lacked adequate sanitation, the sheer scale of the issue shocked me: 


And the one that maybe shocked me the most:
Water and Sanitation

With all this in mind, I consider water to be at the crux of sanitation, as both water to drink and water to dispose of human waste are pivotal for hygienic, human life; of which the failure to separate the two cause devastating effects. It's not that there isn't enough water in the world - so why is it that some people end up drinking contaminated water? 

Water, Sanitation and Africa

Africa is burdened with a disproportionately high percentage of these global sanitation issues. 40% of the 783 million who do not have access to safe water live in Sub-Saharan Africa. 15 of 54 countries in Africa have less than 25% sanitation coverage. Although statistics vary depending on the country, it is not an isolate issue - nearly 45% of all people in Africa will face sanitation issues at some point in their life. 


"Sanitation is both one of the most important, and one of the most neglected areas of human development"

(McFarlane et al, 2014)


In order to effectively engage with sanitation, McFarlane et al say that is should not be viewed as a homogenous constant. Rather than it being a singular concept, it should be recognised as everchanging and "profoundly differentiated by relations such as gender, age, ethnicity, religion, income, and ability" as each are interlinked. 

This is a key theme I will aim to actively incorporate by interlinked topics and relations. It is also important to critically reflect upon how ideas concerning water and sanitation have been shaped in the context of Africa. In my next post I hope to discuss Wainaina's article on writing about Africa and how this will set the tone for my blog. 

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