The Sanitation Ladder, What Constitutes an Improved Form of Sanitation?

This paper empirically assesses whether the MDG classification of ‘improved’ and ‘unimproved’ sanitation technologies and the JMP sanitation ladder correspond to three hygiene proxies. It finds that the current assumption that shared facilities of an adequate technology should be classified for MDG purposes as ‘unimproved’ is not supported by evidence from Tanzania.