Bringing pit emptying out of the darkness : a comparison of approaches in Durban, South Africa, and Kibera, Kenya

Much attention has been focussed in recent years on partnerships in the water and sanitation sector. However, as is often the case when sanitation is bundled with water, much of the spotlight has been on water. Consequently, while we increasingly understand the circumstances in which partnerships to provide drinking water are successful, much less is really known about sanitation. One often encounters the false assumption that what applies to ‘water’ partnerships (or solid waste partnerships) will hold true for those catering specifically for sanitation. In order to gain a better understanding of where partnerships fit in the debates around sanitation, BPD set out in 2004 to work with a series of sanitation-specific case studies. The first challenge was to find such partnerships, less easy than first supposed; eventually Dar es Salaam, Durban, Maputo, Maseru and Nairobi were chosen. [authors abstract]