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Part of the blog series 'Researchers for Sanitation Workers’ Rights' by UNC Sanitation Workers Research Awards 2023 awardees Read more …

In Nairobi, Kenya, informal sewer workers face significant health risks due to exposure to hazardous gases like hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2). A study conducted by Kenyatta University's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health (DEOH) revealed elevated gas levels in sewer facilities, posing short- and long-term health threats. Read more …

"We considered them – manual emptiers – our enemies of sorts and the relationship we had with them was of a police-fugitive type", recounted Sanya Anthony Mwara, the Municipal Health Officer at Shinyanga Municipal Council. No longer outcasts, more and more emptiers have become sanitation heroes and partners for change. In this blog, Sanya shares what made this possible. Read more …

Part of the blog series 'Researchers for Sanitation Workers’ Rights' by UNC Sanitation Workers Research Awards 2023 awardees Read more …

Introducing the distinguished recipients of the 2023 Sanitation Workers Research Awards! These awards, a partnership between the Initiative for Sanitation Workers and the esteemed Water and Health Institute at the UNC, hold a profound purpose: to ignite transformative research on the challenges and rights of sanitation workers. Read more …

The Initiative for Sanitation Workers (ISW), a global advocacy partnership between ILO, WHO, World Bank, WaterAid and SNV, is pleased to announce this call for proposals, as part of the 2023-2024 Sanitation Workers Research Support Grants, which aims to connect researchers with sanitation worker organizations to collaborate in addressing the knowledge gaps and practical challenges of protecting sanitation workers’ rights. ***** L'Initiative pour les travailleurs de l'assainissement (ISW), un partenariat mondial de plaidoyer entre l'OIT, l'OMS, la Banque mondiale, WaterAid et SNV, a le plaisir d'annoncer cet appel à propositions, qui fait partie des subventions de soutien à la recherche sur les travailleurs de l'assainissement 2023-2024, qui vise à mettre en relation les chercheurs avec les organisations de travailleurs de l'assainissement afin de collaborer pour combler les lacunes en matière de connaissances et relever les défis pratiques liés à la protection des droits des travailleurs de l'assainissement. Read more …

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Meet the awardees of the 2022 Sanitation Workers Research Awards. These awards, a collaboration between the Initiative for Sanitation Workers, and the Water and Health Institute at the UNC, aim to encourage research on sanitation workers' challenges and rights. Read more …

To encourage research on sanitation workers' challenges and rights, the Initiative for Sanitation Workers, and the Water and Health Institute at the UNC are supporting the annual Sanitation Workers Research Awards, which are announced at the UNC Water and Health Conference every year. The 2022 awards will be announced during the 26 October plenary session at 10.30 AM EDT. Read more …

A team from Emory University and the World Health Organization published a literature review examining health outcomes of sanitation workers in the 2022 International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. Given the working conditions and the potential exposures to hazardous materials, understanding the exact risks that sanitation workers are exposed to is vital in improving their wellbeing. While most parts of this field need significantly more study, the three populations identified by the literature review that need the greatest amount of work yet are women, informally employed workers, and workers in low-income nations. Read more …

Can mechanisation address the problem of manual scavenging? The article looks at the historical, social, political and economic context of manual scavenging in South Asia; and highlights how mechanisation can end up reinforcing gendered, classed and casteist inequalities in sanitation work. Read more …

Drawing on a study undertaken with WaterAid in February–March 2020, Sally Cawood, Malisha Farzana, Faisal Naeem and Hossain I. Adib reflect on the challenges facing manual pit latrine emptiers, and key actions to foster improved job opportunities for marginalised sanitation workers in Bangladesh. Read more …

COVID-19 has deemed sanitation workers essential workers in fighting the pandemic which has granted them a larger appreciation for their work. Sanitation work is a profession that can impact poverty by keeping communities clean. It also perpetuates it by putting the workers at risk for health concerns, conditions and unsustainable pay among five other hidden dangers that sanitary workers face. Read more …

Sanitation workers often face extreme health hazards and safety risks on the job. In many developing countries, they are informal workers with no legal protections or rights. With a lack of visibility in society, they can be stigmatized, marginalized and ignored. The feature story by World Bank presents an overview of the challenges faced by sanitation workers. Read more …

Mariam Zaqout discusses the appropriateness and effectiveness challenges of providing assistance to improve the livelihoods of sanitation workers in low and middle-income countries. Read more …

Densely populated areas unserved by sewer systems continuously produce fecal sludge, for which safe disposal or recycling is challenging to achieve at scale. A group of researchers from the Aquaya Institute, Oliver Wyman, and Great Lakes University of Kisumu collected evidence and recommendations from Kisumu, Kenya. Read more …