Summary of Study Session 1

In Study Session 1, you have learned that:

1. ‘Sanitation’ and ‘waste management’ both refer to the appropriate management of waste to protect people and the environment. Sanitation generally focuses on liquid waste and waste management on solid waste.
2. Liquid waste includes all types of wastewater and includes human excreta. Solid waste is any solid material discarded by people and is often classified according to its source.
3. The ‘sanitation ladder’ illustrates the different types of sanitation provision in order of desirability.
4. The waste hierarchy is a guide to the different ways of treating wastes from waste reduction (the best option) through to disposal (the worst option).
5. The challenges of rapid and unplanned population growth and urbanisation in Ethiopia make it difficult to achieve acceptable levels of sanitation and waste management quickly.
6. Sanitation in Ethiopia has shown significant improvement in recent years. There is less data for trends in waste management.
7. There are several Ethiopian policies, strategies, proclamations and programmes that address sanitation and waste management issues.