Wanted! Economists for the sanitation sector

Still at Stockholm Water Week, we were part of a panel on a session which asked whether we need more research for sanitation (the answer was a resounding yes) and sought to evaluate what such additional research might entail. SHARE, a research consortium funded by DFID and led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (in association with WaterAid, SDI, IIED and several others), was leading the session in the context of the development of a comprehensive (and comparatively well-endowed) research programme on sanitation over the next 5 years. Donors such as DFID and the EIB called for better and more applied research to help them channel more financing to the sector, in a more effective and targeted manner.

As a core member of the SHARE consortium, Sophie made the case for raising the profile of economics and finance as applied to the sanitation sector. In the next 5 years, she will be working with other research partners on identifying market failures in sanitation markets and proposing concrete actions based on sound evidence. As part of the programme, a first research initiative will be to evaluate the use of microfinance for household sanitation investments, with the overall goal of increasing the visibility of the sanitation sector in the overall microfinance world.