Chapter 4. Methodology
4.3. Indicators for the chosen criteria and development of value functions
4.3.3. Socio-cultural sustainability
Criterion Indicator/ range Scale Employment: jobs
created by construction and maintenance
qualitative values are approximate
0=no jobs created / 1 000 households 1=1 new job created/ 1 000 households 2=5 new jobs created / 1 000 households 3=10 new jobs created/ 1 000 households 4=15 new jobs created/ 1 000 households 5=20 new jobs created/ 1 000 households Local
development: promoti on of local business in construction and maintenance
qualitative 0=All construction and maintenance by international agency
1=Some international assistance, national construction agency
2=National and regional agencies 3=All regional construction, O&M 4=Some local community, some regional construction and O&M
5=All construction and maintenance performed within the local community
The remaining indicators were also considered to be qualitative. In describing the different levels an attempt was made to make the underlying rationale for including the criterion explicit. This was so that when a new sanitation option is added to the MCDA, the basis for comparison is clear. As an example the criterion “Requirement for outside intervention” was described by the scale: 0:
monthly intervention, 1: six-monthly intervention, 2: annual intervention, 3: intervention every 2 years, 4: intervention every 5 years, 5: intervention every 10 years or more. Effectively the numbers are simply there to make it easier to assign a value to an option than terms such as “frequent” or
“seldom” and not as exact numerical measures. There would be no non-integer values assigned and a process of approximation would assign values to different systems. Similarly, job creation has figures assigned to the different ratings, but these are intended as a guide only.
Some criteria incorporate some different aspects of the central concept. Robustness is intended to cover the ability of the system to withstand misuse, but also the complexity of design and construction. The performance of these different aspects is described as the indicators are developed. Thus an option must be robust, simple in design and easy to construct if it is to score 5 on the scale.
Table 4-5. Indicators and scaled indicator values for socio-cultural sustainability Criterion Indicator/range Scale
Acceptability:
user perceptions of fitness for purpose
qualitative 0= totally unacceptable 1= accepted with reluctance 2= accepted after persuasion 3=accepted without influence 4=willingly accepted
5=sought after Convenience:
provision of sanitation where users require it, distance from dwelling
qualitative 0=very inconvenient 1=inconvenient 2= fairly inconvenient 3= fairly convenient 4=convenient 5=very convenient Equity:
fulfillment of requirements of all gender groups.
equivalence of sanitation provision for different income groups
qualitative 0=women and children not provided for 1=children not provided for
2=inferior system for less advantaged
3= less advantaged people have inferior system in their opinion but adequate from external perspective
4=less advantaged people have equivalent but not same system
5=sanitation for all same system as that of most advantaged group
Legal
/institutional: fit with legal requirements, institutional support for construction, O
& M, political support
qualitative 0= construction and O & M are outside available support structure and existing legal framework, political will is against proposed solution
1= fit with legal requirements, but no support available at government level and political will is against proposed solution
2= fit with legal requirements and some support available at government level but political will is against the proposed solution
3= fit with legal requirements and some support available at government level and political will is neutral on the
proposed solution
4= fit with legal requirements full support available at government level, political will is neutral
5= fully supported by all parties, institutional plan in place to support construction and O & M
Criterion Indicator/range Scale Facility for
ongoing hygiene education:
commitment of local authority or national government to fund
qualitative 0= no hygiene education available
1= some initial education available but no provision for ongoing support
2= fully adequate budget for initial education available but no provision for ongoing support
3= fully adequate budget for initial education available but insufficient provision for ongoing support hygiene
education
4= fully adequate budget for initial education available and adequate provision for ongoing support hygiene education 5=initial and ongoing hygiene fully provided for and support at a national level (e.g. TV campaigns) Participation:
facility for user involvement in planning and execution of project
qualitative 0= No user participation
1=User representatives consulted before start of project. No further involvement.
2=Users consulted throughout planning process. No involvement in execution.
3= Users consulted throughout planning process. Some involvement in execution
4= Users fully involved in planning and execution 5=Users fully involved in planning and execution with users committed to ongoing involvement
Food security:
contribution of system to household based food production
qualitative 0=No contribution to food security.
1=Some use of urine at household level
2=Some use of urine and faeces at household level 3=Use of products within the community. Institutional support for food production
4=Products used at household level without institutional support.
5=All products of system reused at household level.
Effective support for food production.
Pathogen exposure:
requirements of system for contact with faeces
qualitative 0= Daily contact with faeces. PPE not used
1= More often than monthly contact with faeces. No PPE 2= More often than monthly contact with faeces. Full observance of PPE use.
3= More often than annual contact with faeces. Full observance of PPE use.
4=Approximately annual or less often contact with faeces.
Full observance of PPE use.
5=No contact with faeces
Equity requires that all groups of people be treated fairly. This incorporates socio-economic equity, gender equity and equity for children. Some attempt at ranking these in order of importance is incorporated into the construction of the rating scale: lack of access for women and children results in a very low score, while socio-economic equity is graded at the higher end of the scale. The socio- cultural indicators are described in Table 4-5.