WaterAid has just released new policy report – Off-Track, Off-Target (with the supporting video below) – that argues that the 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to halve the proportion of people without access to improved sanitation will not be met in Sub-Saharan Africa for two centuries if current trends persist. The provision of sustainable rural water supply services in developing regions is also identified as a major problem.

I am currently working on several papers that will be released next year that will look at the sustainability/impact of rural water supply systems in Senegal, Kenya, and Colombia that support household-level productive activities. My hope is that these studies will help advance the current approach to the provision of rural water supply systems in these regions. In addition, we plan to publish the results from a study of the willingness of rural households in Senegal to pay for a VIP (ventilated improved pit latrine).