We have been using the same toilet system for the past 200 years. The sewer system is safe and clean, but also resource intensive, and many countries cannot afford the water and energy needed. Can there be a new solution? That is the ambition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) project committee 305 that is working to define a standard for a new type of toilet, which could help meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on safe sanitation for all.

The 'Female-friendly guide', published in October 2018 and written by WaterAid, UNICEF and WSUP, is designed primarily for use by local authorities in towns and cities who are in charge of public and community toilets. It's also useful for national governments, public and private service providers, NGOs, donors and civil society organisations who play a role in delivering these services.

Sanitation is critical to the well-being of all citizens within a city. Through this video series, sustainable examples of waste management are shown from around the world. Considering the whole service chain, from the toilet to waste treatment and reuse, these examples showcase a number of ecological models that have been successfully implemented. Check out the other videos in this series for more detailed descriptions on these unique systems.

The provision of sustainable sanitation for all is one of the world’s most important development priorities, yet 4.5 billion people lack access to a safe toilet. Past efforts to provide greater sanitation access, such as direct government provision and full, blanket subsidies for toilets, have proven to be ineffective or unsustainable in many developing countries, prompting some to focus on market-based sanitation (MBS) as an alternative. However, market-based approaches have proven difficult to scale up.