Issues of Sanitation Definition and the MDGs

Coverage FiguresAccording to the 2008 Ghana Demographic Health

Survey (GDHS) report

• Only 12.4 percent of people living in Ghana used improved sanitation facilities

• 54 percent shared an improved facility with one or more households

• 10.6 percent used unimproved sanitation facilities

• 23 percent of the population had no access to any facilities or were engaged in open defecation.

JMP definitions of improved/unimproved sanitation

Improved sanitation Facilities not shared thatensure hygienic separation of human excretafrom human contact:

•Flush/pour flush to:

• piped sewer system

•septic tank

• pit latrine

•Ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine

• Pit latrine with slab

• Composting toilet

Unimproved sanitation Facilitiesthat do not ensure hygienic separationof human excreta from human contact:

• Flush/Pour flush to elsewhere

• Pit latrine without slab/open pit

• bucket

• Hanging toilet/hanging latrine

• No facilities, bush or field

•Shared or public toilets

National Community Water and Sanitation Program (NCWSP)

Improved Sanitation/Adequate excreta disposal facilities:

• Household VIP Latrine• Simple but protected Pit Latrine• Pour Flush latrine• KVIP• Connection to a sewer or septic tank system

Shared Toilets and Public Toilets

Shared sanitation facilities (JMP)Shared sanitation facilities: Sanitationfacilities of an otherwise acceptable typeshared between two or more households.Shared facilities include public toilets.

Public Toilets (NESP, Ghana)Toilet facility basically to cater for transient populations and areas of intense public activity such as lorry parks and markets

Reasons why JMP classifies shared toilets as unimproved

• Concerns about the actual accessibility of such facilities throughout the day

• The security of users, especially at night

ESHD/WSMP, GhanaImproved Sanitation Facilities• Any Sanitation facility which is adequate,

convenient, has user privacy and is hygienic both in technology and operation and maintenance and shared by a maximum of 10 people from different households."

Indicators of improved sanitation by the ESHD/WSMP, Ghana

• Indicators1.Adequate sanitation facility

latrines used by a maximum of 10 persons per squat hole

2. Convenient sanitation facility

Latrines located 50 meters or less from the household

3. Private Sanitation Facility

Latrines that provides a complete non-transparent enclosure

4. Secured sanitation facility

Sanitation facilities that are adequately illuminated(path leading to latrine and the latrine room),structurally stable (absence of significant cracks inthe building structure and slabs as well as strongtrusses for roofs)

Indicators of improved sanitation by the ESHD/WSMP, Ghana

• Indicators5. Hygienic

sanitation facilityLatrines that hygienically separate faeces fromhuman contact by ensuring the following; arefree from flies, has available anal cleansingmaterials and containers to hold them, cleantoilet seats and bowls (ie. free of excreta) andnot littered with anal cleansing materials.

6. Accessible sanitation facility

Latrines that remain open for use throughout the day and night

6. Adequacy (No. to use)

5 and 10

What Next: Undertake studies to find out the following:

1. Whether or not improved sanitation facilities (not shared) in Ghana meet the criteria outlined below;o adequacy o convenience o has user privacy and ensures adequate security o is hygienic both in technology, operation and maintenance o accessibility at all times (night, during rains etc)o ensures hygienic separation of human excreta from human

contact 2. Factors that influence the sharing of sanitation

facilities in Ghana

What Next(Cont’d)3. Users opinion on shared latrines (example, are users

happy with improved shared toilets? is their continued use mandated by circumstance, culture, or both? Would users agree that shared toilets are unimproved and that they (the users), should be counted as not having proper toileting facilities?)

4. Current trends in the provision of sanitation facilities (types) in Ghana, for example by government, private individuals (ie households), NGOs etc.

5. Recommendations on the capacity of shared sanitation facilities to contribute to Ghana’s achievement of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for sanitation.

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