- 1: Introduction.
- 2: Timing.
- 3: Sub-steps.
- 3.1: Sub step 1: Conducting an integral evaluation.
- 3.2: Sub step 2: Gathering of technical information on the existing systems.
- 3.3: Sub step 3: Identifying the socio-economic situation of the settlement.
- 3.4: Sub step 4: Identification of user priorities.
- 3.5: Sub step 5: Identification of external factors.
- 4: Products, expected outcomes and library .
Description of settlement conditions, with assessment of existing sanitation situation and user priorities
Sub step 1: Conducting an integral evaluation
This information gathering step shall be performed by the sanitation planning team (members may include NGOs, citizens, promoters, officials or any other interested party) in conjunction with the local community. A variety of tools exists for participatory information gathering and creating dialogue about important community issues. Tools such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Participatory Analysis for Community Action (PACA) aim to identify community problems and to plan solutions with the active participation of the community members. These tools can be useful entry points for assessing the existing situation and can easily be built into the processes started in steps 1 and 2. The continued participation of the various stakeholders shall also assist in planning the distribution of activities and responsibilities during the subsequent steps of implementation, operation, maintenance and long-term service provision.
Although the related sub steps are divided into different aspects, which have to be taken into account when assessing the local condition, the evaluation needs to be integral using the following tools:
- Conducting workshops with the users, farmers (potential resource re-users), authorities and the service providers, to identify the existing situation and desired functions of the sanitation system.
- Assessing the community's capacity (public and private sector's) to participate and implement actions.
- Holistic analysis of the available resource base: human resources, institutional capacity, technical capacity, financial resources, legal framework, land-ownership arrangements.
- Situational analysis of regional and national issues such as political structure and stability, government policies, and foreign aid that can impact civil improvement projects (war, drought, disease, international debt, inflation, etc.).
- Using participatory assessment tools, e.g.: semi-structured interviews, key-informant interviews, transect walks, observations, household surveys, community mapping, etc.