"The World and Japan" Database (Project Leader: TANAKA Akihiko)
Database of Japanese Politics and International Relations
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), The University of Tokyo

[Title] Chair’s Summary of the Follow-up Conference of the International Year of Sanitation - Tokyo Action Proposal following IYS (TAP-IYS)-

[Place] Tokyo
[Date] January 27, 2010
[Source] Ministry of Foreign Affair of Japan
[Notes]
[Full text]

The International Year of Sanitation was memorable success beyond expectation. Awareness was raised, top political commitments were made and innovative actions were started during the Year. 2.5 billion people do not, however, have access to improved sanitation. New challenge arises as increased effluent will need to be treated to protect global water environment. Waste water treatment should be urgently addressed by international community. In the Conference, the way forward towards achieving MDG sanitation and beyond was discussed in order to deliver sustainable sanitation service to every citizen of the world. Participants agreed that three key areas for sanitation, i.e., sustainable sanitation embedded in society, locally tailored technology, and securing finance are crucial to achieve breakthrough for better sanitation. Recommended next steps were proposed in the Session Summary as attached.

International community needs a vehicle to carry spirits, monitor commitments, and accelerates actions created by IYS in order to place sanitation back on track and go beyond to deliver sanitation services to every citizen of the world. Creation of International Half Decade for Sustainable Sanitation “Sustainable Sanitation – The 5 Year Drive to 2015” was proposed and supported in the Conference as a vehicle to keep the momentum and a catalyst for change.

The IYS has created great momentum and it is necessary to keep access to basic sanitation in the center of political attention. That is, why we need a “five year drive”.

1. Yet, there is need for some adaptation:

a) Adaptation related to monitoring, reporting , and the quality of data.

b) We need a broader view of sanitation, including

- waste water management of household and public facilities,

- personal and environmental hygiene, and

- locally adapted sustainable sanitation solutions.

In this regard, it is highly recommended that UN Water is addressing waste water in a special work force.

c) The challenges of climate change, keeping the good status of water bodies and the reuse of waste water are among important issues to be addressed as well.

2. All who are involved with sanitation actions need a strategic focus on up-scaling:

- identifying what has worked, identifying good practices,

- mainstreaming of experience and knowledge,

- a broad roll-out innovation transfer of proven and successful approaches to similar contexts, and

- massive investments to speed up implementation.

3. Inspiring leadership on all levels is needed in order to

a) target investments into sanitation,

b) market toilets as a must-have status symbol, thus triggering behavioral change and creating demand;

c) make school sanitation an area of focus, as children are drivers in breaking the social taboo and changing hygiene behaviors.

4. Governments must

a) clarify respective roles and responsibilities regarding sanitation,

b) enable and foster clear leadership and accountability including establishing one coordinating body with sanitation responsibility (as was decided in the eThekwini Declaration), thus securing continuity of institutional commitment,

c) allocate specific sector budget lines for sanitation,

d) give a special focus on the poor and vulnerable,

e) give special attention to urban areas. As slum dwellers often live in appalling conditions, special programs are a matter of urgency “urbanized sanitation”, and

f) continue to increase support to rural areas.

5. Governments in their national policies should put an additional focus on productive sanitation systems, where appropriate, because:

a) they offer opportunities in reuse for fertilization and irrigation, soil conditioning and energy generation;

b) this will help creating demand for sanitation and thus improving economic viability;

c) it will extend benefits of sanitation to areas like food security and climate change protection and adaptation.

6. Financing institutions must disseminate targeted information to policy makers on quantitative benefits of action or cost of no action. The economic impacts of poor sanitation range from 2% - 7% of national GDP. A 1$ investment in sanitation could yield of economic return of $3-$34.

National governments, with help of financial institutions must secure access to financial services, taking into account willingness to pay. Special financing mechanism especially for the poor, including conditional cash transfer, output-based aid, micro-financing or revolving fund is needed.

7. Those involved in development and application of optimal technologies should jointly develop technology matrix and clearinghouse to facilitate selection of locally optimal and tailored technology for sanitation. and made them available through, inter alia, web-page.

8. Participants agreed to propose a stock-taking forum in 2014.

Session 1 Report: Sanitation in Society

“How can we sustainably embed sanitation in social, economic and cultural systems?”

Sanitation is critical to human well-being and yet 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate and sustainable sanitation. Sustainable sanitation should be embedded as an essential component of development efforts and as a component of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), for the greatest benefit of the people, the economy and a better environment.

Recognizing that:

・ 2.5 billion people lack access to sustainable sanitation and, that at current rates of progress, the MDG target for sanitation is seriously off-track

・ Sanitation underpins all development efforts; in particular, health, education, economic development and resource and environment protection

・ Sustainable sanitation should be accessible to all and must be affordable and appropriate in the local context to ensure that everyone has access all of the time

・ Sanitation is a culturally important element in society, with distinct traditions and religious characteristics, which must be considered during programming

・ Sanitation is economically beneficial to all including the poor and the vulnerable, and must be affordable

・ Professional and sustainable management of sanitation systems has to be ensured, and

・ Sanitation is important to the environment and people’s well-being.

This can be achieved by:

1. Advocating for sanitation as an essential development sector that has the potential to bring huge social and economic benefits, so that

・ Sanitation is prioritized alongside other critical development sectors including water, health and education

・ Awareness for the economic value of human excreta and water from households as resources that can be recovered, treated and reused safely, is recognized

・ Human waste is transformed into fertilizer in agricultural fields supplementary income is generated from agricultural products in rural areas, to help preserve soil fertility and to safeguard long-term food security, and human waste should be treated within the area where they are produced

・ Water bodies downstream are protected in accordance with the Polluter Pays Principle.

2. Taking steps to accelerate progress on sanitation and in particular the sanitation MDG target by:

・ Prioritizing sanitation in national development plans and international development efforts alongside water, health and education

・ Increasing developing country budget allocations and international assistance for sanitation

・ Identifying and upscaling existing good practice and rolling out to similar contexts through a concerted multi-donor approach

・ Developing and investing in sustainable sanitation plans that stimulate demand for sanitation and build community participation and ownership

・ Increasing investments in institutional sanitation - in particular for schools and healthcare facilities, prisons, etc.

・ Targeting vulnerable groups including children and the poor or marginalized, notably in urban slums.

3. Building cross-sectoral alliances for sanitation at all levels, by:

・ Engaging key stakeholders at national and sub-national level, including households, community organisations and NGOs to engage in sanitation efforts and promote the (local) private sector to recognize sustainable sanitation as a viable business approach

・ Good sanitation practice

・ Building networks and partnerships to share learning and best practice on sanitation approaches at the national and international level

・ Engaging relevant sectors at the national level including health, education and environment

・ Supporting initiatives at the international level that seek to bring greater accountability and urgency to the sanitation problem, including the Global Framework for Action on Sanitation and Water

Session 2 Report

“OPTIMIZING SANITATION TECHNOLOGY – WAY TO SELECT THE MOST SUITABLE SANITATION TECHNOLOGY TAILORED TO LOCAL CONDITIONS”

1. The session 2 was co-chaired by Ms. Amy S. P. Leung (Asian Development Bank) and Mr. Takehiko Kawai (Japan Sanitation Consortium).

2. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak described the Sulabh Pour-flush Toilets with Twin Pits as a good sanitary option and cheap technology. He emphasized that low maintenance is needed and this system works either with cold and hot temperatures.

3. Dr. Chizuru Aoki made a presentation on the Selection of Environmentally Sound Technologies for Wastewater Management, drawing the attention to the importance of a preliminary assessment for the selection of suitable technologies.

4. Dr. Hui Zhao presented centralized approaches regarding rural wastewater treatment in China. He showed several case studies with different decentralized treatment processes.

5. Ms. Yuyun Ismawati introduced the SANIMAS system in Indonesia. SANIMAS plays an important role to improve urban sanitation in Indonesia.

6. Mr. Antonio Cesar da Costa e Silva described how wastewater treatment technology is selected, depending on local conditions such as population, the amount of wastewater load and its concentration.

7. Dr. Satoshi Takizawa detailed the history of wastewater management in Japan and the different systems used for wastewater treatment and pollution reduction. He also highlighted the effective current combination of on-site (Johkasou) and off-site technologies, depending on population density.

8. After the six presentations, the speakers and audience discussed the key points to consider locally, and according to conditions, the treatment process to choose for sanitation improvement.

9. Sanitation technology is essential as it connects the wastewater generated by human activity, to rivers, i.e. water resources. The following conditions were selected as the most important items to consider locally for the choice of suitable sanitation technologies:

1) natural characteristics

2) population density

3) financing situation

4) management capacities

5) people knowledge and understanding on sanitation

10. General consent was achieved about the formulation of a suitable matrix for technology selection that would consider local conditions and several evaluation criteria to determinate the most suitable sanitation technology according to areas. Sanitation technologies involve night soil/sludge and wastewater/stormwater collection, treatment and reuse systems.

11. The clearinghouse network of sanitation technologies should be developed among expert organizations such as JSC and UNEP.

To disseminate and make those technologies happen, the promotion of a suitable matrix for technology selection should be emphasized as an effective tool, where capacity buildings and feasibility studies are developed.

Session 3 Report

“Action to be Taken” for Mobilizing Financing in Sanitation

(1) How to encourage national government to allocate more budgets on Sanitation?

1) Disseminate information to policy makers on quantitative benefits of action or cost of no action.

The economic impacts of poor sanitation range from 2% - 7% of national GDP. A 1$ investment in sanitation could yield of economic return of $3-$34.

2) Institutional change/reform including setting up a mechanism to coordinate among relevant ministries/agencies on strategy, planning, budget allocation and implementation in sanitation.

Or, incorporate sanitation into the existing development plans.

(2) What are the barriers to mobilize financing Sanitation, and how to solve them?

1) Cost recovery, specifically O&M cost

--- Promotion of willingness to pay

--- Targeted subsidy to fill the gaps between affordability/willingness to pay and cost recovery requirements, and cross-subsidization of services

--- Choice of appropriate type of technology and level of service to make it financially affordable and viable

--- Promotion of co-benefits of sanitation and sustainable agriculture through Eco-san, composting toilets or reuse of treated wastewater and sludge

--- Promotion of co-benefits of sanitation and energy through biogas digesters, anerobic treatment technologies, etc., and potential for carbon credits

2) Private sector participation

--- Enabling conditions for private sector involvement, including;

Provide a coherent set of policy directions and regulations that address the allocation of roles, risks and responsibilities between public and private.

Set up the framework conditions necessary to provide reasonable incentives for private sector such as, tariff adjustment mechanism.

3) Capacity of local governments to plan and develop bankable sanitation projects

--- Provide assistance to local governments to develop their capacity to plan and implement sanitation and wastewater management facilities, including developing innovative financing mechanisms and engaging the private sector.

(3) How to promote investment in Sanitation by household and community?

1) Engage communities and NGOs as active partners for awareness raising activities, creating demand for improved sanitation and wastewater treatment facilities & services, and increasing the willingness to pay as well as in project planning, implementation, and monitoring.

2) Secure access to financing. Special financing mechanism for especially the poor, including conditional cash transfer, output-based aid, micro-financing or revolving fund