Strengthening national sanitation institutes

Description

Strengthening national sanitation institutes involves enhancing institutional capacity, resources, and technical expertise to effectively plan, implement, and monitor sanitation policies and services. This strategy addresses fragmented governance, inadequate funding, and skill gaps by fostering coordination, professional training, and evidence-based decision-making. The practical intent is to ensure sustainable, equitable sanitation solutions, improve public health outcomes, and support compliance with national and international standards, thereby remedying systemic weaknesses in sanitation management and service delivery.

Context

To effectively plan and manage water-supply and sanitation at the national, provincial, district and community level, and to utilize funds most effectively, trained professional and technical staff must be developed within each country in sufficient numbers. To do this, countries must establish manpower development plans, taking into consideration present requirements and planned developments. Subsequently, the development and performance of country-level training institutions should be enhanced so that they can play a pivotal role in capacity-building.

Implementation

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.