Geneva, Palais des Nations - May 3-6, 2000
CITIES OF THE SOUTH:
SUSTAINABLE FOR WHOM?
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ESF/N-AERUS International Workshop Geneva, Palais des Nations - May 3-6, 2000
CITIES OF THE SOUTH:
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Katharine Coit
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My paper will address the question of the difficulty of states in the south to promote environmental policies related to the health of their populations and in particular those of lower income. The provision of clean water and basic sanitation to all is a sector in which many, (most) governments of the south both local and central have failed to keep up with the needs of a growing urban populations. Addressing this question should help the research community to indicate appropriate strategies for encouraging governments to fulfill their responsibilities.
There is a tendency for governments both of the north and of the south to relegate policy for environmental health to the bottom of their priority list unless faced with a crisis. This can be seen in the north, for instance, as countries drag their heels before passing strong legislation on air pollution , toxic waste ground water pollution etc.. In cities of the south provision of the services of water and sanitation, essential for health, are significantly lacking.
While it is true that many international organizations and NGOs have created projects to improve the effectiveness of water and sanitation policies; yet these projects are drawn up without paying much attention to the fundamental reasons for the lack of concern and the underachievement of existing institutions. The causes generally given such as: lack of resources, institutional weakness, lack of political will, an uneducated population, need to be much more closely defined and analyzed. It is important to understand the causes of the gap between the need of water and sanitation services and their supply for innovative approaches to have any chance of success.
Development projects parachuted from outside are like the strong shots of alcohol that used to be administered to people suffering from shock before the medical world understood the complexities of the state of shock. Things look better for a while but the results are not long lasting. Greater participation of local NGOs, CBOs and the local population in some cases has increased the understanding of the local complexities but more research on the underlying causes of governmental inaction is necessary to be able to judge the "political, economic and social viability of new or alternative approaches that best increase access to adequate levels of basic services and healthy living and working conditions for all…"
The essential role that environmental health plays for sustainable development need to be highlighted. It is not only a matter of long term development; it is a question that affects very directly the everyday life of low income populations, their life expectancy, their productivity, their chances to escape poverty, to improve their living conditions and enhance their dignity. Sickness, invalidity and death of the wage earners is one of the main causes of the poor remaining poor or becoming destitute. Frequent death of young children is a cause for a high birthrate.
The link between lack of sanitation and potable water and poor health is well documented. In 1985 the World Health Organization estimated that ¾ of all illness and 80% of Child death in developing countries are associated directly or indirectly with unsafe sewage disposal, poor hygiene and poor water supplied as are the sporadic outbreaks of cholera in Africa and Asia. Less well understood is the impact on the economy of lack of water and sanitation. An OECD study suggests how to evaluate the economic costs of environmental pollution and pollution of drinking water due to untreated sewage and industrial effluents, by estimating the impact on productivity, the cost of sickness, the cost of avoiding pollution and the expense for protection from it yet little attention is given to this type of calculation.
An analysis of "why governments do not succeed in promoting effective water and sanitation policies" would seem essential. After underlining the gravity of the problem the first part of this paper will present the points of view of practitioners and researchers working in the field expressed in recent documents and e-conferences. In the second part a series of examples of the obstacles to effective promotion of sanitation will be analyzed.
The third part will examine in full a case study to show the complexity of the problem and the vested interests involved. It will suggest there are obstacles that are rarely mentioned and thus not dealt with when attempts are made to overcome the obstacles.
The Fourth part will indicate under what conditions innovation and change are possible with illustrations of actions which have been able to make headway in spite of the numerous problems . Some of these examples deal head on with the problems such as changing unhealthy behavioral patterns or attacking corruption; others are directed at long term reform such as different forms capacity building. Only a few deal with the question of developing the "political will" necessary for rapid change.
N-AERUS: Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanisation in the South
http://www.naerus.net