1.4.4  Challenges to administration

A growth in population creates more work for the city’s administration. If funds are not available to increase staff numbers to deal with this demand, problems will occur. In the case of sanitation and waste management, as well as services not being provided to the whole of the city, the additional workload can reduce the effectiveness of the governance of these programmes, which can result in lower standards and a poorer service for the entire city.

To deal with the problems of population growth, various organisations need to work together; for example, water, sanitation and health service providers, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). When growth is rapid, these organisations can be overwhelmed and so coordination can break down. This may mean that in some cases, efforts are duplicated, and sometimes there will be gaps in addressing some aspects of the programme.

If public administration and regulation is already weak, the entire system can fail. In the absence of good regulation, standards of sanitation and waste provision can fall, increasing pressures in other areas such as health services.

1.4.3  Challenges to society

1.5  The present state of sanitation in Ethiopia