Earlier this year, the 4th international conference on Faecal Sludge Management (FSM4) was held in Chennai, India. More than 1 000 delegates from 61 countries attended this discussion on the global sanitation challenge.

The sustainable development goal (SDG) target for global universal sustainable access to safe sanitation by 2030 is an ambitious one, and requires a huge injection of investment, but the economic and social arguments are stronger than ever for the frontiers of dignity to be expanded.

The discussions were centred on the experiences and the triumphs of various countries, as well as the insights gained from interventions that have not been so successful.

India’s target in the context of the Swachh Bharat or the ‘Clean India’ campaign, which is led directly from the office of the Prime Minister, seeks to put an end to end open defecation, which is the norm in many parts of India and is responsible for much water pollution. India’s ambitious target is to achieve universal access to improved sanitation by 2 October 2019 – the 150th birthday of Mahatma Ghandi.

South Africa’s Bucket Eradication Campaign was also prominently featured at FSM4, as was the globally leading work on sanitation innovations by the Water Research Commission (WRC), and the foundation of a new sanitation platform for the world by the City of eThekwini, in partnership with the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

The focus of the majority of the conference sessions was on the treatment of the waste, the removal of faecal sludge, and various cutting-edge technologies for faecal waste beneficiation. With much of the world now focussed on turning waste to wealth, classic solutions of fertilizer production, biofuels production and biogas harvesting were at the fore of discussions.

Sanitation is the new global revolution, and it is heartening to see the various innovative ideas that are being put into practice across the globe; it is fervently hoped that the SDG target for global universal sustainable access to safe sanitation by 2030 will be well met, and long before the time.

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