Asian sanitation data book 2008 : achieving sanitation for all

This is the first data book on sanitation for the Asia and Pacific region. It features raw data and analyses on the sanitation situation in 27 cities in Bangladesh (1), the People’s Republic of China (3), India (4), Indonesia (1), Lao People’s Democratic Republic (3), Nepal (5), the Philippines (3), Sri Lanka (2), and Viet Nam (5). The cities are members of CITYNET and participants in the Water for Asian Cities Program of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Although the information collected was not complete for all cities, the book draws a number of conclusions from the data. The overall city sanitation picture is not bright. Sanitation has not been given sufficient priority and certainly lags behind provision of drinking water. The findings, despite qualifications about data quality, point to several priority actions that government and other stakeholders need to undertake, including the initiation of city sanitation plans; the simplification of institutional arrangements; the review of operation and maintenance expenditures and cost recovery policies; improvement of sanitation benchmark indicators; and to consider sourcing funds from beyond government sources.