WSG 1.1.4 Access to basic sanitation services

Measures the number of individuals within households who have gained access to at least basic sanitation services[1] within the reporting period.

Households are considered to have access to basic sanitation service is they use improved facilities which are not shared with other households.

Improved sanitation facilities include those designed to hygienically separate excreta from human contact. Examples include flush/pour flush toilets connected to piped sewer systems, septic tanks or pit latrines, ventilated improved pit latrines, pit latrines with slabs, and composting toilets.

A step higher on the JMP sanitation ladder is "Safely managed". This means use of improved facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ (buried in a covered pit either by the household members themselves or a service provider) or removed and treated offsite (at a treatment plant or buried in a covered pit). As this might not always be known, the indicator is formulated as “at least basic.”

Note that for this indicator measures individuals in households that have gained access to at least basic sanitation services are counted, that means that they did not have access to that level of service prior to the intervention. People who gained access to sanitation facilities through new or rehabilitated sanitation services in institutions (schools or health care centers) are not counted to avoid double counting. However, in the case where the project only provides access to sanitation services in schools and there is no access currently to basic sanitation services in the surrounding community, then the number of school staff and students should be added to this indicator. 

[1] Some areas may be used the terminology “facilities” instead of “services,” however, these are not the same.  The JMP framework defines “facilities” and “services” as follows:

• Facilities are the physical infrastructure, such as flush toilets, pit latrines with slabs, or composting toilets, designed to hygienically manage waste. These are considered improved facilities due to their safe design.

• Services refer to the usability and quality of these facilities. For a facility to qualify as a basic sanitation service, it must be:

  1. Improved and not shared with other households.

  2. Accessible, functional, and hygienic at the time of use.

For example, a flush toilet connected to a septic tank is considered an improved facility, but it does not qualify as a basic sanitation service if it is shared by multiple households or if it is non-functional. This distinction ensures the indicator reflects not just the presence of infrastructure but also the level of service experienced by users.

WSG 112

• Gender 

• Age  

• Left behind/vulnerable population group  

Only primary stakeholders are counted under this indicator, that includes people who have constructed or improved sanitation facilities due to the support or influence of Helvetas or partners. People reached indirect through for instance technical assistance to governments resulting in expanded access should NOT be reported under this indicator.

If there is NO overlap between gaining access in households and schools, then number of staff and students should also be included in this indicator in projects where sanitation facilities are built in schools.

• Project data/service provider records on implementation of activities and outputs. When the exact number is not known, population data can be used to calculate estimates of the outreach.

• Baseline/needs assessment should be conducted to confirm that households have no current access to at sanitation service that meets the basic level definition before the intervention. This can be done through direct visits to households, a sample survey, interviews with leaders and water management committee members, or a mixture of these methods.

Data should be collected continuously throughout the project or whenever activities are completed.

When number of sanitation facilities is known: Record the process for each sanitation service/facility that is built, rehabilitated or upgraded from unimproved to improved. After construction/rehabilitation/upgrading is finished, the partner must verify that the new facility meets the basic (and safely managed) standards. Record the number of households members in the households that installed the facility, if the exact number of household members is not known use the average household size of that area.

If the construction was done at system level (e.g. repairing a piped sewerage network), then the number of people who gained access are typically calculated by using a standard household size and multiplying it by the total number of households connected to that system, which can be obtained from the service provider or public records.

If it the intervention only focused on information and did not include direct support to building facilities or systems, then an estimate might be done to calculate how many the campaign “likely” impacted to build or improve their sanitation services. This can be done through a survey to find out the proportion of a sample who have acted upon the messaging. This survey can also be used to measure outcome indicators. Alternatively, interviews with community leaders or members of water management committees may be used to find the number of household that have constructed/rehabilitated/upgraded sanitation facilities in their home.

SDC:

WAT_ARI_2 Number of people that gained access to improved sanitation and hygiene services (SDG 6). Note that improved sanitation and hygiene services are reported to SDC, while “basic” is a stricter measure (higher up on the JMP sanitation service ladder).  

USAID:

HL.8.2-2 Number of people gaining access to a basic sanitation service as a result of USG assistance

HL.8.2-3 Number of people gaining access to safely managed sanitation services as a result of USG assistance

• WFC 1.1 Proportion of households that are more water secure after gaining access to (at least) basic water supply service (Household Water Insecurity Experiences Scale)

• WFC 1.2 Proportion of population using (at least) basic drinking water services

• WFC 1.3 Proportion of population using (at least) basic sanitation services

• WFC 1.4 Proportion of population using hand-washing facility with soap and water

• HUM 007 Number of people who have gained equitable and affordable access to a sufficient quantity of safe water to meet their drinking and domestic needs

• WSG 1.1.1 Number of people who have gained access to (at least) basic drinking water services

• WSG 1.1.2 Number of schools and/or health care facilities that have gained access to (at least) basic drinking water service

• WSG 1.1.3 Number of improved water supply systems constructed/rehabilitated

• WSG 1.1.5 Number of schools and health care facilities that have gained access to (at least) basic sanitation services

• WSG 1.1.6 (a) /(b) Number of people reached with (a) sanitation and hygiene promotion activities, including (b) menstrual health and hygiene

• WSG 1.1.7 Number of civil society, public or private actors supported to increase capacities for WASH service delivery

• WSG 1.1.9 Number of initiatives established or supported to strengthen policies, laws, rules, institutions, strategies, plans, and/or budgets for more integrated natural resources governance