Improving the informal recycling sector: Dhaka, Bangladesh

October 4, 2012 · 0 comments

Improving the informal recycling sector through segregation of waste in the household: the case of Dhaka Bangladesh. Habitat International (2012).

Matter, A., et al.

The city corporation of Dhaka (DCC), Bangladesh, currently only collects less than half of the solid waste produced in the municipality, an area of 360 km2 with a population of 7 million. Uncollected waste is dumped indiscriminately by inhabitants into water bodies or floodplains or else burnt, thus contaminating water, land and air of the city area and beyond. Rather than searching for solutions to improve collection and disposal services, this paper presents research which focuses on the production of waste at household level, and explores how household waste segregation can preserve the value of recyclable materials, enhance their accessibility to informal workers of the recycling sector and reduce the overall waste flows.

The analysis of the informal recycling industry and its stakeholders as well as waste generation and composition shows that there is still a large untapped potential. However any initiative aiming to increase source segregation and access to more recyclables needs to carefully consider all “integrated” aspects of the waste management system which influence and determine sustainability and success of the envisaged improvement. Practicality of segregation at the household level as well as regularity of collection or purchase of recyclables by the informal sector need to be addressed as priority.

Waste and Development – Perspectives from the Ground

October 4, 2012 · 0 comments

Waste and Development – Perspectives from the Ground. Field Actions Science Reports, Issue 6, 2012.

Sonia Dias

Millions of people worldwide make a living collecting, sorting, recycling, and selling valuable materials disposed of as waste. Waste pickers contribute to public health, reduce the costs associated with municipal solid waste management, and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the environment. In many countries, waste pickers supply the only form of solid waste collection. While waste pickers provide vital services to their communities, their municipalities and the environment – they generally face very difficult working conditions and in many cases have little or no support from local governments.

Waste pickers have been organizing themselves into cooperatives, unions and associations and have found that forging solidarity links across continents is an important strategy, and have increased their global networking since the First World Conference of Waste Pickers took place, in 2008, in Bogota, Colombia. Supporting waste pickers is a key element in a people-centered approach to development.

Slum surveys giving ‘invisible’ inhabitants a say in urban planning

October 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Slum surveys giving ‘invisible’ inhabitants a say in urban planning | Source:  , guardian.co.uk, September 2012.

Slum dwellers around the world are mapping their settlements to raise the profile of their communities and prevent evictions.

The Deep Sea slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Photograph: Bill Gozansky/Alamy

In 2005, Jeremiah Makori was asleep in his home in Nairobi’s Deep Sea slum when he heard a voice outside.

“We went to sleep as usual, and at midnight I heard a strange voice outside, [saying] move out and save your lives,” he said. He rushed outside with his nightclothes on, carrying his two sons, and watched his home disappear. “It was all demolished. We lost everything.”

Makori had lived in the slum since 1998, having left his home in rural western Kenya to look for work in the city.

Although Deep Sea has since been rebuilt, Makori, who was in Naples this week at the World Urban Forum (WUF), said the threat of eviction still looms: a new road project that would cut through the slum is on the cards, and it’s unclear what will happen to those who live there.

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Slum upgrading strategies and their effects on health

September 27, 2012 · 0 comments

Slum upgrading strategies involving physical environment and infrastructure interventions and their effects on health and socio-economic outcomes, September 2012.

  • Ruth Turley1,*,
  • Ruhi Saith2,
  • Nandita Bhan3,
  • Eva Rehfuess4,
  • Ben Carter5

    • Editorial Group: Cochrane Public Health Group

    DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD010067, The Cochrane Library

    Additional Information(Show All)

    Author Information

    1. 1Information Services, Cardiff University, Support Unit for Research Evidence (SURE), Cardiff, Wales, UK
    2. 2Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Study, New Delhi, India
    3. 3Harvard School of Public Health, Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Boston, USA
    4. 4Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, Munich, Germany
    5. 5Bangor University, North Wales Centre for Primary Care Research, Wrexham, UK

    *Ruth Turley, Support Unit for Research Evidence (SURE), Information Services, Cardiff University, 1st Floor, Neuadd Meirionnydd, Heath Park, Cardiff, Wales, CF14 4YS, UK. TurleyRL@cf.ac.uk.turleyrl@cardiff.ac.uk.

    This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows:

    The main objective of this systematic review is to:

    • examine the effectiveness of slum upgrading strategies, involving physical environment and infrastructure interventions, for improving the health and quality of life of slum dwellers.

    Secondary research objectives are to:

    • examine the effectiveness of slum upgrading strategies, involving physical environment and infrastructure interventions, for improving the socio-economic wellbeing of slum dwellers;
    • identify slum dwellers’ perceived needs, preferences for slum upgrading, and satisfaction with interventions they receive;
    • identify potential adverse impacts slum upgrading may have on slum dwellers’ health and wellbeing;
    • define and identify programme characteristics and components which increase the health and wellbeing of slum dwellers;
    • identify external contexts that may boost or hinder intervention effects.

     

     

    Benin briefing – Economic impact of water and sanitation

    September 27, 2012 · 0 comments

    Benin briefing – Economic impact of water and sanitation, 2012.

    Sanitation and Water for All

    An economic study conducted for Benin has shown that impacts resulting from poor sanitation and hygiene cost the economy of
    Benin CFA 50 Billion (US$ 104 million) per year, or the equivalent of 1.5% of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This translates to an average CFA 5,700 (US$ 11.8) per capita annually, or CFA 6,600 (US$ 13.5) per unserved inhabitant. These figures reflect the

    • a) adverse health effects associated with poor sanitation and water supply,
    • b) costs of treating these health problems,
    • c) loss of productivity that results when individuals are sick and others have to care for them, and
    • d) time spent to accesss ervices (see Figure 1).

    These estimates do not include the costs associated with environmental impacts (e.g. polluted water) and the adverse impacts on tourism and business.

    Global Review of Sanitation System Trends and Interactions with Menstrual Management Practices

    September 27, 2012 · 0 comments

    Global Review of Sanitation System Trends and Interactions with Menstrual Management Practices, 2012.

    Marianne Kjellén, et al. Stockholm Environment Institute

    This review of sanitation system trends and interactions with menstrual management practices has been conducted as part of the broader project on Menstrual Management and Sanitation Systems. It starts with a review of trends in the development of urban sanitation systems and then explores the interaction between menstrual management and sanitation systems, mainly relating to the issue of disposal of used menstrual blood absorption materials. Finally, it proposes a framework of interactions by positioning a range of issues of particular relevance for menstrual management into the different parts of the sanitation system.

    In the framework (chapter 3), the most important menstrual management and sanitation system interactions from the perspective of the user occur at the toilet, where the facility conveniently serves (or not) the needs of the user, and to some extent conditions the behavior related to the disposal of used menstrual material. Further downstream, in the collection, conveyance and treatment parts of the system, the interactions relate mainly to the way menstrual waste has been disposed of and its potential to cause and contribute to blockages and the filling up of receptacles.

    Generally, the appropriate disposal method for used menstrual pads and such material is with solid wastes that are collected separately from feces and urine. Where such arrangements are lacking or not used, menstrual waste may be inappropriately disposed of through sanitation facilities, which may lead to clogging or system failure.

    Costs and Service Levels of Water and Sanitation: A Study of Peri-Urban Locations in Andhra Pradesh

    September 25, 2012 · 0 comments

    Costs and Service Levels of Water and Sanitation: A Study of Peri-Urban Locations in Andhra Pradesh, 2012.

    G. Alivelu, et al. WASHCost (India) Project. CENTRE FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL STUDIES.

    The present study’s main objectives are to estimate the cost of service provision across periurban locations for drinking water and sanitation and the relative expenditure on different cost components in reality against the existing norms. Life Cycle Cost Approach (LCCA) is adopted to estimate the actual cost components of service provision. The study is based on the analysis carried out using data collected from 18 peri-urban locations spread over nine agroclimatic zones of AP. The data is collected at two levels. At level one cost data were obtained from 18 municipalities – 2 from each zone. This data is generated from the official records of Public Health and Engineering Department (PHED) at the municipality level. At level two, detailed household level data on socio-economic aspects along with the information pertaining to drinking water and sanitation are gathered from a selected ward from each of the 11 municipalities.

    Most of the investments are on capital expenditure on hardware i.e on creation of water and sanitation infrastructure assets. Investment on capital expenditure on software is either absent or negligible. Allocations towards water planning and designing are negligible. At the state level, for water, only 30 percent of the households own tap. During summer, household scored above basic services in terms of quality and reliability while 16 percent of the households scored above basic services in terms of accessibility. In case of quantity, we do not find any households which scored above basic service levels.

    As far as sanitation is concerned, households spend more both on construction and also maintenance of toilets. Relative shares of various components indicate that sanitation CapExHard accounts for 60 percent of the cost at the State level while recurrent costs account for 40 percent. The field survey clearly shows that the male members of the household do not use toilets and resort to open defecation. On an average, at the State level, around 39 percent of men and women each use toilets in eleven peri-urban towns, while only 21 per cent of children use toilets. On the sanitation service ladder, all the indicators except access which is scored as basic, at the aggregate level, we observe limited or no service with respect to use, reliability and environmental protection. When service levels are plotted against the unit cost, there appears to be no association between the two. There is no correspondence, especially in the case of use. Reliability is very low. The higher level of environmental protection indicator could be due to other reasons rather than unit costs.

    Bangladesh’s urbanisation creating a healthcare black hole

    September 18, 2012 · 0 comments

    Bangladesh’s urbanisation creating a healthcare black hole | Source: Annie Kelly, The Guardian | Sept 18 2012

    Millions are heading for Bangladesh’s cities, but as slums expand a lack of healthcare is leaving the poor vulnerable

    In 1901, Bangladesh‘s urban population was less than 2%. Now, more than a century later, urban planners are predicting the country’s future will be one of sprawling, inter-connected metropolises with a largely urban population moving between hundreds of cities and large towns.

    Last year, the national census showed that out of a population of more than 150 million, just under 30% live in the rapidly expanding cities and towns, with the urban population increasing about 6% a year as millions of people leave rural areas in search of work.

    Women and children at a village in Khulna. Urbanisation threatens to undermine Bangladesh's impressive strides on healthcare. Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP

    Dhaka absorbs many of those on the move. Its sprawling slums are testament to the capital’s struggle to accommodate the millions of new residents. Land is so scarce that people have filled in rivers around the city to make space for new housing. Mass evictions are on the rise as landowners clear out slums to make way for more profitable building projects. New residents are increasingly pushed out to the city’s fringes.

    The government’s refusal to acknowledge either the slums or the fact that 40% of Dhaka residents are now slum dwellers means that public service budgets – and basic facilities like water and electricity – are not being extended to accommodate the millions of new residents.

    While many rural districts now have an accessible community outreach healthcare system in place, in Dhaka the vast majority of healthcare services are still based in hospitals.

    According to healthcare workers, hospitals are already unable to meet the growing demand for treatment and services. Dhaka’s largest hospital is operating at 50% staff capacity and trying to accommodate 3,000 patients in a facility with just 800 beds.

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    WSUP – Bringing Sanitation and Water Services to the City

    September 18, 2012 · 0 comments

    Planning at Scale: Bringing Sanitation and Water Services to the City, 2012. | Source: WSUP

    Following a successful networking event at the World Urban Forum, we have put together a list of key points which arose:

    • Plan early, plan ahead, plan big and leave plenty of public spaces; this allows for future infrastructure as needed;
    • Plan for future population growth – assume a doubling of the population;
    • Plan constantly; planning should be going on even while urban improvement programmes are underway;
    • Carry out sanitation, water and hygiene (WASH) planning in close collaboration with urban and land use planners – not in isolation. This is essential to ensure that WASH investments are appropriate to the future development plans of each city area and will therefore not be wasted;
    • Coordinate WASH planning with energy sector plans as water services are heavily dependent on a reliable energy supplies;
    • Integrate water and sanitation planning with flood protection planning to achieve more resilient, city wide systems;
    • Have a clear vision of full service coverage and commit to achieving it;

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    Enteropathies in the Developing World: Neglected Effects on Global Health

    September 13, 2012 · 0 comments

    Enteropathies in the Developing World: Neglected Effects on Global Health. Am Jnl Trop Med & Hyg, Feb 2012.

    Andrew Prendergast* and Paul Kelly

    Centre for Paediatrics and Centre for Digestive Diseases, Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, United Kingdom; Zvitambo Project, Harare, Zimbabwe; University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia

    Address correspondence to Andrew Prendergast, Centre for Paediatrics, Blizard Institute, Newark Street, London E1 2AT, UK. E-mail: a.prendergast@qmul.ac.uk

    A spectrum of enteropathies, characterized by small intestinal inflammation, reduced absorptive capacity, and increased intestinal permeability, commonly affect people in developing countries. This subclinical intestinal pathology facilitates microbial translocation across the compromised intestinal barrier, leading to chronic systemic inflammation that may adversely impact health.

    Environmental enteropathy (EE), ubiquitous among people living in unhygienic conditions, likely mediates two interlinked public health problems of childhood, stunting and anemia, and underlies poor oral vaccine efficacy in developing countries. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) enteropathy, which frequently overlaps with EE, may contribute to immune activation and modulate HIV disease progression.

    The interacting effects of infection and enteropathy drive a vicious cycle that can propagate severe acute malnutrition, which underlies almost half of under-5-y deaths. Enteropathies are therefore highly prevalent, interacting causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Interventions to prevent or ameliorate enteropathies have potential to improve the health of millions of people in developing countries.

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