WaterAid's urban work in practice

Victory for slum dwellers

Credit: WaterAid/Juthika Howlader

The March 2007 water bill addressed to the community of Bauniabadh Kalabagan in Dhaka, Bangladesh was cause for celebration.

The bill was the very first issued directly by the Dhaka Water and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) to a community lacking legal land tenure. Until 1992, DWASA had refused to supply water at all to unofficial communities. Then, following negotiation with WaterAid's local partner DSK, they agreed to supply water to communal water points if DSK acted as guarantor.

Fifteen years of experience proved that a guarantor was unnecessary: slum dwellers were reliable bill payers who preferred paying a fair price to the authority for safe, clean water to paying higher prices for suspect water sold by illegal providers. The removal of DSK as a guarantor paves the way for other communities in unofficial settlements to gain legitimate access to safe water.

Communal latrines

Credit: WaterAid/Caroline Irby

Land is at a premium in Muganzi Luwaza, on the outskirts of Uganda's capital city, Kampala. With no room to build new pit latrines, WaterAid and local partner YIFODA helped the community to build a permanent block of communal latrines draining into a tank that could be emptied by a suction vehicle.

Community latrine committee member Silvia Kiewao explained:

"People only have small plots of land here and there is no room to build new pit latrines once their old pits have filled up. This latrine block is leased to different families, it serves 300 people.

"There are 20 households that lease a cubicle and there are two cubicles for visitors. Households pay a fee to use it which goes towards maintenance and the cost of emptying the tank."

Mobile toilet kiosks

By managing one of WaterAid and local partner organisation GAMA's innovative 'mobile toilets', 27 year old Eskender Tadesse from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is helping provide much needed privacy for local residents to go to the toilet. 

Credit: WaterAid/Caroline Irby

"When I came to Addis Ababa I had no work and was living on the street. Then I got involved with helping to clean and green the area and the mobile toilet.

"Between 70 and 80 people use this toilet every day. Sometimes if people have no money I will let them in for free, so that we can keep the area clean. I also have a special box for children to stand on so that they can use the latrine.

"When there is a special occasion in the city we can transfer the latrine to where it is needed."