NEWS in brief
experts to smell and describe odour intensities, with
descriptions including “vomit” and “barnyard,” against
odorant concentration. “Nobody quantitatively linked
intensity and concentration measured before,” Starkenmann
says.
This combination of chemical and sensory analysis is the
study’s most innovative aspect, according to George Preti, a
researcher at the University of Pennsylvania and the Monell
Chemical Senses Centre in the US. “This greatly increases
the probability of understanding the chemical composition
of the malodour bouquet,” he said.
The team found that Indian toilets had a lot of sulphur
gas. “There’s more anaerobic fermentation that causes a lot
of this eggy, sewage odour,” Starkenmann explained. The
improved ventilation in the African pit latrines reduced this
problem.
Global Highlights
annually the sanitation and hygiene budget lines “to reach
a minimum of 0.5% GDP by 2020”. This is contained
in a declaration issued by the ministers at the closure of
AfricaSan4 in Ngor, Dakar, Senegal.
The declaration acknowledges that while 133 million people
living in Africa have gained access to sanitation since 1990,
over 500 million still lack access and many more still defecate
in the open.
The Ministers’ commitments address a wide range of issues
that must be tackled to improve sanitation and hygiene
including: political leadership; financing; monitoring and
evaluation; equity and inclusion; research and learning among
others. The Ministers also call upon all stakeholders to play
different roles to achieve the vision. The commitments
contained in the Ngor Declaration 2015, replace the
eThekwini commitments of 2008.
The study results are helpful because improving the smell
of toilets means more people will use them, said Clara
Rudholm, a programme officer for the Global Sanitation
Fund at the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative
Council in Switzerland.
Lydia Mirembe is the Communication and knowlegde management
advisor, IRC Uganda
But beyond the business-led toilet model Firmenich
envisions, Rudholm said community-led models could also
be effective. “People enabled to build and use well-ventilated
toilets are likely to keep them clean, well-maintained and
odour-free,” she added.
Exposing the value of waste through urban
development
This news item was originally published on the IRC website,
29 May 2015
This post first appeared on SciDev.Net.
African Ministers renew commitment to sanitation
and hygiene
By Lydia Mirembe
Ján Ilavský (right), Sunu M. Soemarno (far right), and other visitors
hear about the Fukuoka landfill method during a programme tour
for the 25th session of UN-Habitat’s Governing Council
The AfricaSan4 conference (25-27 May) ended with a
declaration defining the vision and aspirations of the
African Ministers in charge of hygiene and sanitation.
African ministers in charge of sanitation and hygiene under
their umbrella body African Ministerial Council on Water
(AMCOW) have expressed their commitment to achieve
universal access to adequate and sustainable sanitation and
hygiene services and eliminate open defecation by 2030.
They reinforce their committment by promising to increase
Nairobi, Kenya As part of a comprehensive tour of UNHabitat programmes in Kenya, Ján Ilavský, President of the
25th session of UN-Habitat’s Governing Council, and Sunu
M. Soemarno, Chairman of the Committee of Permanent
Representatives, visited Kenya’s first semi-aerobic landfill in
Kang’oki, Kiambu County during the Governing Council
meeting earlier this year.
During the visit, they also met with William Kabogo,
Governor of the County of Kiambu, on the status of
sustainable and economic development within the County
of Kiambu.
Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene • July - August 2015
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