Initial lessons learned in making sanitation data useful for decision making

Useful data is important for effective decision making. In 2017, the World Bank reported that poor data has led to an ineffective allocation of resources across the sanitation sector. The current data gap is also preventing the sanitation sector from tracking its progress in providing sanitation for people living in cities. This challenge is not insurmountable. A sector-wide response needs to include behaviour change in the collection, sharing and use of data. This paper explains Gather’s approach to improving the usefulness of data through geospatial analysis, and presents our recommendation for a sector-wide data strategy that starts with the creation of a data standard for urban sanitation data.