Improving Access to Safe Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Requires Better Decision-Making Tools, Finds Joint Wilson Center-Pacific Instit...( WASHINGTON May 2 -- Today 1.1 bi...),Health

WASHINGTON, May 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water and 2.6 billion lack access to safe sanitation, even though many existing technologies and approaches can ensure access to clean water, safe sanitation, and hygiene education. In a report released today, scientists and development experts evaluate decision-making tools for practitioners in the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. "The good news is there already are many workable solutions that can improve the water and sanitation issues people are struggling with. Unfortunately, it can be a tremendous challenge for communities to figure out which strategy fits their situation best, and to maintain these technologies over time," said Meena Palaniappan, who co-authored the report with Micah Lang and Peter H. Gleick.

Directed by Peter H. Gleick at the Pacific Institute and by Geoffrey D. Dabelko at the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program, A Review of Decision-Making Support Tools in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Sector recommends the development of a comprehensive WASH decision-making tool that would allow users to compare the construction, operation, and management requirements; costs; financing options; scalability; and institutional needs of WASH technologies and approaches. This tool would also address the needs of different geographic locations, evaluate opportunities for community involvement, and use case studies to demonstrate technologies in action.

The report can be downloaded from http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ecsp and http://www.pacinst.org/. For more information, contact Karin Bencala at 202-691-4185 or karin.bencala@wilsoncenter.org.

The Pacific Institute works to find real-world solutions to problems like water shortages, habitat
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