Let's summarise

Over the last ten weeks, we have explored how African countries show wide variability in WASH accessibility and supply due to a mixture of human and physical factors. For example, providing clean water for isolated communities in rural areas to highly populated urbanised areas involves multiple levels of actors such as the World Bank and private service providers. Furthermore, the provision of sanitation has been affected by policy change and climate change such as floods. 

By analysing WASH, this blog has demonstrated sanitation to be more than the WHO's definition of hygiene but a process which contains complicated connections between the physical, socio-economic and political structures that may also contain hidden colonial geographies and ideologies. Furthermore, the flow of WASH can be racially constituted and exclusionary, such as in South Africa which was affected by previous Apartheid policies. There is much that can be improved some of which may require a move away from historical legacies.

Over the last few weeks I have thoroughly enjoyed broadening my knowledge on water and sanitation in Africa, focussing on a few selected approaches to management although there are many other solutions frequently being discussed. I have also learnt to be aware when discussing water and sanitation, to avoid generalisations and think critically. 


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