Global impact of selected urban sanitation tools (The Netherlands)

With the aim of improving the urban sanitation situation, large investments have gone into developing a plethora of urban sanitation tools, but there is limited evidence on the use and the impact of these tools. In collaboration with FSM Alliance, a study was conducted on four tools; Shit Flow Diagram (SFD), City Service Delivery assessment tool (CSDA), SaniPath and Citywide planning tool, to evaluate their usage, users, user experiences and impact. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics were applied to analyse qualitative and quantitative data, respectively. From the study, it was found that most interviewees heard about these tools through trainings or courses. Generally, these tools were extensively used in Africa and Asia regions and researchers were found to be the main group of users. The use of these tools was according to their intended aim, although CSDA and SaniPath, can be modified according to the context. The SFD tool is the most widely known and used tool. However, there was confusion between the Citywide planning tool and other planning tools. Evidence of impact from the usage of the SFD and Sanipath tools was found. Despite SFD and SaniPath tools being used extensively, the users experienced various challenges, such as data unavailability, confusion of terminologies and lack of an automated report. The study also established that the SFD and Sanipath tools’ outputs were generally disseminated on their websites. However, CSDA outputs were shared internally on reports due to the sensitive nature of the results. Some recommendations were proposed to increase the uptake of these tools.