Sharing experiences : sustainable sanitation in South East Asia and the Pacific

This collection of nine case studies explores sanitation and hygiene initiatives in three countries in South East Asia (Indonesia, Timor Leste, Vietnam) and six Pacific Island Countries (Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu). It aims to contribute to a growing community of practice and highlights practical measures to address the sanitation challenges in the region. In each case study, the authors discuss various dimensions of these initiatives from social acceptability and financial aspects, to technical functionality and impact on the environment. All the case studies focus on practical implementation issues: from the challenges of training staff and community members, to the ways community engagement tools are used in practice, to the difficulties in designing culturally-appropriate hardware components. The case studies are written from a variety of perspectives, taking into account the views of local and international NGOs, expert consultants and government agencies and highlighting the perspectives of end users and local community members. They present evaluations of work completed and reports on work in progress.
The authors do not take a position on the ‘best’ method or approach for achieving sustainable sanitation, but rather illustrate what has worked or has not worked for them, with the overall goal of facilitating knowledge exchange on practical application of low-cost sustainable sanitation in the region.
With lessons learned.