Closing the Gap in Urban Sanitation: SOIL Joins Sanima at PUCP’s Forum in Lima
Dr. Sasha Kramer with Sanima team members and representatives of the Peruvian Government at the Ministry of Housing, Construction and Sanitation.
Last week, SOIL participated in a thought-provoking forum hosted by Escuela de Gobierno at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), focusing on strategies to enhance access to sanitation in urban areas. The event, titled, “¿Cómo cerrar la brecha en el acceso a saneamiento urbano?” (“How can we close the gap in access to urban sanitation?”), brought together members of the Sanima team, SOIL’s Executive Director, Sasha Kramer, representatives from the Peruvian government, and university students to discuss sanitation solutions in rapidly urbanizing cities like Lima. This discourse focused on addressing the needs of densely populated, off-grid human settlements lacking traditional sewer systems and requiring immediate sanitation alternatives such as container-based sanitation.
Scaling off-grid sanitation is a complex challenge.
Why is it important?
Let’s begin here: Sanitation is a basic human right. We believe–with conviction and clarity–that all human beings regardless of socioeconomic status or country of origin, are entitled to their fundamental human rights.
Currently, there are 12 container based sanitation providers globally that are part of the Container-Based Sanitation Alliance, collectively serving over 200,000 individuals with safe sanitation. Both SOIL and Sanima are founding members of this alliance, collaborating for years to elevate CBS as a viable and respected method of urban sanitation.
Sasha contributed SOIL’s insights from Haiti to the panel discussion by elaborating on the logistics of container-based sanitation (CBS) systems in Haiti and touching on everything from the evolution of SOIL’s toilet design to the weekly collection of transportation of waste with SOIL’s EkoLakay service. She highlighted how dry-toilet technologies can be implemented in areas with scarce water resources and engineered using local materials, offering an adaptable solution for communities that either lack completely or are in the process of building a more formal sewer infrastructure system.
In addition to that, the manufacturing of CBS units and subsequent waste treatment facilities presents opportunities for local essential job creation. This approach fosters a value chain that cultivates the local services and skill sets, deeply embedding the solution within the community’s fabric.
During the panel, Arturo Llaxacondor, the Executive Director of Sanima, eloquently stated:
“We do this work, and we have been doing this work for 13 years with much passion and intention, with an excellent team. It is great that Sanima exists as an option for thousands of families, but it is not an option nationwide yet, and that goal is bigger than what only one single organization can achieve. We need the public sector engagement, funding and commitment to make container based sanitation part of the menu of sanitation interventions. We also need society as a whole to understand and make safe sanitation a priority in our country's agenda. Only then, will we see a fundamental change."
The mission of SOIL and Sanima is not only to advocate for more investment in public infrastructure or sustainable sanitation solutions. It is to advocate for human dignity, social justice, and a peaceful home environment.
The moment is here for thousands more people living in dense urban environments to gain access to safe sanitation and a higher quality of life. We very much enjoyed joining our friends in Peru for this moment of reflection and responsibility, and were honored to help push forward the conversation on container-based sanitation’s applicability in global contexts.