Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

Waterborne diseases are among the primary threats facing people affected by conflict, including in displacement camps and in war-torn areas where critical infrastructure has been disrupted. Providing safe water is essential for limiting excess morbidity and mortality associated with waterborne diseases. However, current guideline protocols for emergency water treatment are, remarkably, not based on any field evidence, and often fail to ensure that water is safe to drink in emergency settings.

To provide safe, clean, dignified sanitation to families in displaced/informal communities, toilets need to be available and easily accessible, preferably in or near the home. But this requires new solutions that can fit and operate in non-sewered homes. Where flushing isn't an option, sewage accumulates rapidly onsite and removal costs become unsustainable. No-flush toilets would have to eliminate onsite sewage nearly as fast as it accumulates, without needing power or plumbing, at low-cost.

Lack of access to water in South Sudan is a cause and consequence of war which continues to worsen the humanitarian situation. South Sudan lacks water infrastructure and the few available water points are a constant source of intertribal conflicts. Most solutions to the water crisis in South Sudan focus on drinking water. While this is vital, water for farming & livestock is life-saving. Increasing droughts combined with war leading to lack of infrastructure & management drives water scarcity.

About 86% of women and girls in incarceration places are practicing unhygienic MHM due to economic hindrances on affording hygienic pads; limited knowledge on menstrual hygiene management; lack of private space to change rags/pads, lack of counseling services for adolescent girls who get first time menstruation periods; limited knowledge on sexual reproductive health for both female and male inmates and lack of WASH facilities are still prevailing health and sanitation challenge in prisons.

Pay-per-use public toilets is a social franchise business opportunity that drastically improves access to sanitation facilities in urban areas. It comprises a women's social enterprise, safe, secure and clean conditions for women and children, production of renewable energy from human waste and positive effects on health and environment. Women will operate toilets and also earn income from biogas sales, sanitary and MHM products and contracts with other businesses.

HappyTap designs and markets behaviour change products that improve hygiene practices of Base of Pyramid consumers. Our integrated innovation is inspired by behavior change theory - we integrate the latest thinking into a physical product, its accessories, and key marketing messages. We use commercial distribution to maximize user buy-in and ongoing use, and to enable a sustainable solution at scale.

Saral's innovation, Swachh (which means hygiene in Hindi), is a compact machine designed to produce quality, affordable, disposable menstrual pads through a decentralized manufacturing structure. Saral also provides MHM education and awareness campaigns delivered through after-school programs and via trained village health workers known as Sanginis.

Clean Team Ghana Ltd (CTG) is a Kumasi based social enterprise, providing Container Based Sanitation (CBS) services in Kumasi. CTG provides a quality plastic toilet to the customer; who pays a small weekly fee for a “swap and go" service. CTG waste collectors collect the waste weekly, by sealing the used cartridge and replacing it with a fresh one. The waste is then transported to KMA's sewage works, where it is safely disposed.

Safi Sana (Ghana) Limited has developed an innovative municipal scale wastemanagement model by using fecal waste as a raw material to generate value-added end products.

In Kenya, 95% of fecal sludge is disposed into the environment without treatment. The reason for this is quite simple: municipalities are unable to pay to treat human waste because they lack cost-effective options. To solve this problem, we work with partners to implement and operate waste processing factories.