State and drivers of change of Kigali's sanitation : a demand perspective : paper presented at the East Africa practioners workshop on pro-poor urba...

This article provides a view of the current state of the sanitary system in urban Kigali and focuses on the practices and perceptions on the demand side. The study was carried out to obtain my MSc degree at the Wageningen University with technical support of the Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST). Seven research assistants from the final year civil engineering and third year environmental technology closely supported the data collection and research design. Since 2003, I have been working in the student run NGO Rwanda- VCP, which is attached to the National University of Rwanda. The study is based on 30 qualitative interviews in households and a school staff discussion. We worked in three neighborhoods of which one is mixed standing, dense, central, the second rather peri-urban and the third is in the central commercial district. This information was supplemented with 34 citywide interviews, for example at the Ministry of Infrastructure, Kigali City Council, local governments, local health centers, Plan International, and UNICEF amongst others. Observations in the field gave an insight on the physical state of sanitation. [authors abstract]

This three-day workshop aims to identify proven good practices in the sanitation and hygiene sector, as well as drawing lessons from failures to enter into the policy dialogue. It focuses on urban sanitation with an emphasis on learning and innovation in the sector. It was organised by : UNICEF, GTZ, WSSCC, WaterAid and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, and hosted by the Rwandan Ministry of Health.