The second blog in the series draws from the 'Hidden World of Lagos Sanitation Workers' report to shed light on the institutional challenges faced by sanitation workers in Lagos. Despite their vital role in urban hygiene, these workers experience precarious working conditions and lack sufficient institutional support. The blog emphasizes the need for stronger frameworks, better protection, and recognition of their contributions. It also discusses efforts to organize workers, improve their livelihoods, and integrate them into formal support systems, highlighting the importance of addressing these issues to achieve SDG 6 (Sanitation for All) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth). Read more …

Sanitation workers in Lagos, Nigeria, are vital yet often overlooked contributors to urban health. This first blog in a two-part series by Basirat Oyalowo, Taibat Lawanson, and Anthony Akpan delves into their essential roles, the stigma they endure, and the harsh conditions they face. Through the 'Hidden World of Lagos Sanitation Workers’, discover how recognizing and supporting these unsung heroes can transform urban waste management and improve city-wide hygiene. Stay tuned for the next part, where the research team highlights the crucial institutional support needed to secure and uplift the precarious livelihoods of Lagos's sanitation workers! Read more …

Sanitation workers play an essential public health role, but struggle to access social protection and insurance. To change this, WaterAid Bangladesh and Waada.Insure launched the Shasthya Nirapotta Scheme – an insurance scheme that offers sanitation workers and their families health protection and financial security at an affordable cost. Read more …

Read more …

This study compares pit-latrine emptying businesses in Kampala, Uganda, and Kigali, Rwanda, focusing on resources, methods, and tariffs. Empirical data from Forever Sanitation and Pit Vidura show challenges with portable vacuum pumps in hard-to-reach areas, highlighting the need for formal manual emptying for some customers where mechanical methods are not viable. Manual emptying has similar duration to using a portable pump because of the additional time to set up, pack, and clean equipment. Higher regulatory standards can exclude households from using formal services. The study highlights the role of government in managing the tensions between affordability, formalization, and increasing coverage. Read more …

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

Read more …

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 …

By Shafique Massih, edited by Sterenn Philippe Read more …

Read more …

Read more …

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 …