IntroductionThe restoration of sanitation services is one of the immediate priorities that aid agencies have to confront when organising assistance for victims of an earthquake. To do so, they must ensure that people have basic access to facilities, such as toilets and showers, allowing them to maintain as far as is possible their standards of hygiene. This will help to prevent the spread of communicable diseases (Wisner and Adams, 2002) and will considerably improve the quality of life of the survivors. Sanitation programmes are not limited to 'distributions', however. They also involve, inter alia, repairing and reconstructing structures or manufacturing prefabricated systems. They require materials, suppliers and, most importantly, time.Linking emergency operations and speed seems natural and the agencies involved in sanitation often have the feeling that they should sacrifice quality in order to achieve a quick result. The pressure increases with the gravity of the event. This is particularly true when an earthquake hits a city, generating a large number of casualties and causing extensive damage to infrastructure. This paper describes the sanitation programme carried out by the British nongovernmental organisation (NGO), Oxfam GB, to assist the victims of the earthquake that struck the Restoring sanitation services after an earthquake: field experience in Bam, Iran 223 the victims were functioning in the city centre, Oxfam initially worked in 11 villages on the outskirts of the city. A comparison is made here between the programmes of Oxfam and those of the other organisations. The discussion points to elements to consider when evaluating the quality of a response based on a chosen assistance strategy.
PurposeThe purpose of this article is to review the status of current research on how disaster response can best adapt to the urban environment. It looks specifically at water supply assistance, analysing the role and interaction of the various stakeholders and, in particular, the relationship between aid agencies and water utilities.Design/methodology/approachThe review is based on published and unpublished documents produced on the response to emergencies having taken place in developing countries in the last 30 years.FindingsThe article reproduces statistical data on the rising trends in the incidence of disasters in cities, which emphasizes the relevance of the subject. It also shows that the experience accumulated in the last decade on the response to urban disasters suggests that partnerships between water utilities and aid agencies are beneficial. But the means to achieve this partnership require a more in‐depth analysis.Research limitations/implicationsThis review is based only on the literature and should be completed by a case study research in order to support and further develop its theses.Originality/valueWhile the level of access to urban services in the developing countries has been extensively researched in “normal times”, there has been little exploration of its role in crisis situations. This article points out the value of such research and recommends that more analysis is carried out.
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