Author: Jon Lane, Teun Bastemeijer and Priya Shah
“I would like to envisage a world where human need and not human greed directs decisions that impact human lives.” - An Interview with Jon Lane (WSSCC) and Teun Bastemeijer (WIN) on Corruption in Sanitation
The International Anti-Corruption Day takes place annually on 09 December to commemorate the adoption of the United Nations' Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and aims to raise society’s awareness of corruption. Corruption is a big issue in every sector and must be fought in order to combat inequity. It is often the driving force towards instability, failed institutions and poverty. No country is immune to it.
On this year’s occasion of the International Anti-Corruption Day WIN has collaborated with the WSSCC to bring to bear a special interview between Teun Bastemeijer, WIN Manager and Jon Lane, Executive Director of WSSCC. The purpose of the interview is to raise awareness of the nature of corruption in the sanitation sector, which we hope will bring to light some of the basic and pertinent issues in the sector. It is hoped that this contribution will be a means by which you can also take action today to raise this awareness amongst your peers and friends in order to recognise it and help fight it.
Below is an extract, to read the full interview click here.
WIN: What is corruption in the water sector and why was there a need to found the Water Integrity Network?
TB: In the water sector corruption has many faces and commonly manifests in planning processes, policy choices and technology choices. Corruption can also touch upon small issues such as service connection fees for water supply, or illegal payments related to obtaining water rights or licences.
The WIN initiative was needed because the effect of corruption on the daily lives of people in certain countries is dramatic. WIN is unique – perhaps the first kind of initiative where people from the sector itself realised that something needed to be done.
WIN: Could you provide an example of the negative effects of corruption in sanitation to ordinary people?
JL: Let's take the example of a woman living in a rural area in India or Burkina Faso. The nearest water source is an unprotected water pond a half an hour walk away from her family home. The reality of that woman is the following: she wakes up at five o'clock to relieve herself in the bush, enduring stomach cramps and being afraid of sexual assault. She is the walks an hour everyday, together with her daughter who often misses school to help her, to bring water home from the pond. She is the one caring for her children sick with diarrhoea. Her daughter's future will be identical to hers as she will leave school once her menstruation starts, because the school doesn't have toilets for girls. Basic human dignity and safety, good health and economic income are all concepts that she will not get to experience during her lifetime. That might be because the village committee official diverted public funds that were dedicated to providing safe wells and water pumps to the people, or because the activities of a CBO working on hygiene education and demand creation for sanitation was prevented from taking place because national government officials diverted aid money towards a city's neighborhood where voices were needed for the upcoming election. For the Indian or Burkinabe family, poor sanitation and lack of clean water, is a matter of life and death.
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