Sanitation Workers - WASH Institute

SANITATION WORKERS

We believe that professionalizing sanitation services delivery and ensuring safety, dignity, and welfare of sanitation workers is critical to achieving sustained WASH outcomes.

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We aim to improve the lives and livelihood of 100,000 sanitation workers by 2028 to help professionalize services delivery.

THE PROBLEM

Despite improvements in WASH infrastructure, chronic gaps in service levels and service quality remain.

Life expectancy of a sanitation worker in India is 48 years, a full decade less than the average.

More than 100 deaths reported due to unsafe sanitation practices every year, and many more remain unreported.

Sanitation work has become a hereditary profession, with low income, and is not accorded the dignity it deserves.

Challenge illustration

OUR APPROACH

We help cities adopt data driven approach to understand the risks, identify gaps, engage communities, and take action for clean toilets, safe wastewater management, and reuse of treated wastewater.

Use a 5-pronged approach

We work with governments and other stakeholders to professionalize sanitation services and ensure safety, dignity, and welfare of workers through a 5-pronged approach

Formalize Sanitation Work

We help governments provide formal identity cards to sanitation workers of all types - municipal, contract, private, informal - to help link them to government welfare schemes and provide workplace amenities

Impart skill training

We help sanitation workers become certified in their job roles to help professionalize sanitation services delivery

Mechanize sanitation work

We help adopt appropriate machines, tools, and tackles for every sanitation job role to promote safety, dignity and efficiency in services delivery

Focus on Safety

We help governments implement safety by helping them develop administrative and technical protocols (e.g., protocol for sewer entry), standard processes, and improving adoption of PPE among sanitation workers

Deliver professional sanitation services

We nurture workers collectives, community-based organizations, and private service providers to deliver benchmarked services against fair contracts

OUR IMPACT

Our programs impact change at an ecosystem level - from grassroots to policy making.

2,400+

sanitation workers trained

43

Mission Shakti SHGs trained in Odisha

16,500+

workers' data captured in one national level dashboard