Emergency sanitation
Emergency sanitation is required during humanitarian relief operations for refugees, people affected by natural disasters and internally displaced persons.
The short term phase might also involve technologies such as urine-diverting dry toilets, septic tanks, decentralized wastewater systems.
The Sphere Project handbook provides protection principles and core standards for sanitation to put in place after a disaster or conflict.
In a general sense, an emergency may be considered to be a phenomenon originating from a man-made and/or natural disaster which results in a serious, usually sudden threat to the health or well-being of the affected community which relies on external assistance to easily cope up with the situation.
[4] Emergency sanitation is put into place to create suitable living conditions for populations who lack proper water resources and to decrease the spread of waterborne illnesses.
In June 2012, a conference was held with various relief agencies and government officials in order to address proper management of human fecal matter along with the public health of people struck with disaster.
The decision to utilize technology to track human feces collection along with the creation of emergency sanitation coordination centers and the use of smart toilets were among a few of the implemented policies.
[5] To address the problem of public health and the spread of dangerous diseases that come as a result of lack of sanitation and open defecation, humanitarian actors focus on the construction of, for example, pit latrines and the implementation of hygiene promotion programs.
In urban emergencies, the main focus is usually on a quick rehabilitation and extension of existing services such as sewer-lines and waste-water treatment plants.
This places "Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion" (WASH) alongside the other response sectors which are: Food security and nutrition, shelter and settlement and health.
[10] Mass shelter settings where the displaced population is housed in existing but often re-purposed building-complexes such as schools, community centres, places of worship, malls, warehouses and sport stadiums.
[11] Existing sanitation facilities are usually inadequate for full-time stay of a high number of people, and the non-emergency management structures are typically unable or unwilling to continue their services.
Due to usually cramped living conditions there is a high risk of conflict and often also cases of sexual violence, both of which often are in some relation to the sanitation facilities.
[13] Due to the typically short time frame of arrivals and the non-existing infrastructure, these kind of encampments pose maybe the greatest challenge in regards to providing adequate emergency sanitation facilities.
The immediate demand for basic supplies and health services, having to account for the injured, dead, and survivors of man-made and/or natural disasters also aggravates these issues.
