Sanitation in Humanitarian Settings

In an emergency, the collection, treatment, and disposal/reuse of human waste are critical to the health, well-being, and environment of affected populations. Addressing this is difficult and complex and requires an understanding of the technical, social, institutional, political, and environmental issues affecting the situation. In large emergencies where international relief agencies are involved, there will usually be specialists available to advise and assist inexperienced field staff in delivering essential services. However, most emergencies are not large. They are local in nature and rely on local officials to provide an emergency response, especially in the early stages of the emergency. It is very likely that these officials will have minimal knowledge and experience of emergency response; indeed, they have probably never been faced with such an event before.

This book sets out to assist such individuals. Working from a technical perspective, it provides an understanding of the critical elements controlling the delivery of human waste-related services together with strategies for decision making and guidance on how to design, construct, and operate key infrastructure.

The book concentrates on the acute response and stabilization phases of an emergency (Box 1.1), but much of the content is equally relevant to the long-term and rehabilitation phases.