The Third African Sanitation and Hygiene Conference held in Kigali, Rwanda from 19-21 July 2011 indicated that the scale of the challenge facing sanitation and hygiene remains formidable. 584 million people in Africa do not have access to safe sanitation services and 231 million people still practice open defecation. The poorest twenty percent are twenty times more likely to defecate in the open than the richest twenty percent. The conference learned of the scale of impact from poor sanitation on education, economic growth, productivity, tourism, the environment and the management of infrastructure. Improving Faecal Sludge Management was identified as a significant new area of learning. FSM need to be incorporated within city-wide systems and effective business models developed and implemented.

The second International Faecal Sludge Management Conference is being planned from the 29 to 31 October 2012 in Durban, South Africa. The call is now open for papers or workshops dealing with innovations and experiences with all aspects relating to the accumulation, treatment, removal, beneficial usage, transport, pit emptying, new sanitation technologies, management arrangements, economics and disposal of faecal sludge derived from on-site sanitation systems. Expressions of interests and abstracts not exceeding 500 words should be submitted to fsm2@pid.co.za before 31 May 2012. The estimated costs of registration will be US$ 350. We are working towards raising support for attendance of presenters from developing countries. For further information contact Jay Bhagwan at jayb@wrc.org.za OR 0027123300340.