At present, sanitation is one of the key issues in the world which needs to be improved not only for reducing diseases but also for improving overall environmental conditions. Forty percent (40%) of the global population does not have access to improved sanitation (WHO, 2011). According to WHO’s definition, improved sanitation facilities include public sewer system, septic tank system, pour-flush latrine, pit latrine with slab and ventilated improved pit latrine. Even though pit latrines are considered as improved sanitation facilities, they might have a great risk to pollute surface water in the event of flooding, or ground water when seepage and percolation occur depending on soil types. Traditional ways of defecation such as simple pit latrines and open air or bush or flying toilets are still dominantly used in many low income countries which follow the ‘drop and store’ (Esrey et al., 2001) or ‘drop to forget’ (Uddin, 2012) principle and pollute the environment by spreading pathogens. It was estimated that still 1.1 billion people practiced open defecation in the world (UN, 2011) that are highly vulnerable to health risks.

Most of the low income countries in the world will not be able to achieve the sanitation target in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving the number of people without access to adequate sanitation by 2015 (WHO, 2011; Zurbrugg and Tilley, 2009). To achieve the MDG target of sanitation, new ideas and concepts on sustainable and economically feasible sanitation system rather than expensive conventional technologies are needed (Werner et al., 2009). To protect the environment from fecal pollution and to reduce diseases from pathogens, a sustainable sanitation system is essential.
Voices of Sustainable Sanitation (VSS), a newsletter, is going to release soon to publish the news, articles, views of experts, scientists, researchers, policy makers, greater communities and others, outputs of research and development works and any relevant discussions on sustainable sanitation. Although this newsletter will be released under a PhD research project (Sustainable Sanitation for Vulnerable Peri-Urban Population: Operational Research Study in Mongolia), it will cover the topics from other parts of the world. University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) and Action Contre La Faim (ACF) are jointly operating this research project in the Ger Areas of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

You are most welcome to send your views/comments/articles/any other innovative ideas to our newsletter to publish ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). We will deliver your voices to the target communities through this newsletter.

References
Esrey, S., Andersson, I., Hillers, A. and Sawyer, R. (2001): Closing the loop: ecological sanitation for food security, Publications on Water Resources No. 18, Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA), Mexico City, Mexico.
Uddin, S. M. N., Muhandiki, V. S., Fukuda, J., Nakamura, M. and Sakai, A. (2012): Assessment of social acceptance and scope of scaling up urine diversion dehydration toilets in Kenya, Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development. (In Press)
Werner, C., Panesar, A., Rud, S.B. and Olt, C.U. (2009): Ecological sanitation: principles, technologies and project examples for sustainable wastewater and excreta management. Desalination, Vol. 248, No. 1-3, pp. 392-401.
WHO (2011): World health statistics, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
Zurbrugg, C. and Tilley, E. (2009): A system perspective in the sanitation-human waste from cradle to grave and reincarnation. Desalination, Vol. 248, No. 1-3, pp. 410-417.

Voices of Sustainable Sanitation (VSS), a newsletter, is a ‘Voice’ of a PhD research project which has been implementing jointly by University of Science and Technology Beijing (USTB) and Action Contre la Faim (ACF)(International and Mongolia) in the field of Sustainable Sanitation in the Ger Area of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

This newsletter will cover a range of news, views and ideas of WASH experts, scientists, researchers, policy makers, greater communities and others. Verities of outputs of research and development works and any relevant discussions on sustainable sanitation will be considered in this publication. You are most welcome to send your views, comments, articles, any other innovative ideas to our newsletter to publish ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). We will deliver your voices to the target global communities.

Note: Second issue of the newsletter will be published in coming November.

Thank you in advance for your great contribution.

Nazim Uddin

PhD Researcher and Editor
Center of Sustainable Environmental Sanitation
University of Science and Technology Beijing, China