Environmental sanitation and hygiene - a right for every child : a summary of lessons learned and new approaches from the UNICEF Workshop on Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene, New York, 10-12 June 1998

This workshop focused on integrated approaches to sanitation and hygiene, sanitation promotion, school sanitation and urban sanitation. Its specific objectives were: a. To review and reflect on successful field experiences in sanitation; b. To distil from these field experiences lessons and best practices that can be replicated and adapted; c. To improve collaboration with UNICEF partners in this process; d. To examine the role and approaches of UNICEF in the area of sanitation, in the light of field experiences and best practices presented and lessons learned; and e. To recommend short-term and long-term priority actions for field level follow-up and/or adaptation, after further regional consultations. In this document sanitation is defined as "a process whereby people demand, effect and sustain a hygienic and healthy environment for themselves by erecting barriers to prevent the transmission of disease agents". Twenty field case studies were examined by participants during the workshop. These studies were divided into four main themes: i. Integrated Approaches; ii. Sanitation Promotion; iii. School Sanitation; and iv. Urban Sanitation. Working groups discussed extensively these themes to come up with workable recommendations, which fell into recommendations for the short-term, and recommendations for the medium/longer-term. The report also notes therecommendations for internal UNICEF action.