Benchmarking sanitation for the poor has to take the real sanitary problems in the slums of Kampala as the point of departure

摘要

This paper provides an overview of bilateral, multilateral development collaboration activities in the sanitation sector in Uganda, a sector not based on sewer pipes and support by public utilities. Efforts of donors are compared with provision of sanitary services by local actors in Kampala. International aid often overlooks the needs of urban slum dwellers. Aid tends to be used for rehabilitation and expansion of centralised sanitation solutions. To be effective in urban low-income areas, international aid should be geared to the specific conditions of the urban poor and include them in their project planning, which often concern building and maintaining pit latrines and creating a governance structure allowing maintenance and cost recovery. Benchmarking should take the reality of non-piped drinking water and sanitation into account. It should not only take the point of view of utilities or donors, but also bother about the views of the poor and their organisations.