Eawag organizing symposium on faecal sludge management in Senegal
May 4th, 2006
The first symposium on
faecal sludge management (FSM) policy is to be held in Dakar (Senegal) from
9 to 12 May 2006. This four-day meeting of senior
policymakers from government organizations, enterprises and NGOs from the
entire African continent is being organized by the Eawag Department of Water
and Sanitation in Developing Countries (Sandec) in
cooperation with the Senegalese National Sanitation Agency (ONAS). The
aims of the symposium are to raise awareness of urban sanitation issues among
the actors concerned, to provide a platform for the sharing of experience, to
identify possible approaches, and to promote the integration of FSM issues into
local budgetary policy. Faecal sludges arise predominantly in urban areas of developing
countries when septic tanks and latrines are emptied. Here, unlike in Europe,
faecal matter cannot simply be disposed of via a water-borne sewage system. The
uncontrolled disposal of (generally untreated) sludges in surface waters, on
unused land or directly on farmland represents a major risk to human health and
the environment.