Editing Gates Foundation (section)

===Water, sanitation and hygiene===
[[File:Sanitation Value Chain.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|The "[[sanitation]] value chain" used by the Gates Foundation to illustrate their approach to sanitation, showing collection, transport, treatment and [[reuse of excreta|reuse]].<ref name=":8">BMGF (2015). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2317 Building demand for sanitation – a 2015 portfolio update and overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904125146/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2317 |date=September 4, 2015 }} – Water, sanitation, and hygiene strategy, June 2015. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, Washington, US</ref>]]
[[File:2011 07-Internal ReinventTheToilet Animation.webm|thumb|The Gates Foundation created this video to advocate for increased innovation for [[toilet]]s and everything they are connected to]]
[[File:The vision of a toilet that is small - and pleasant - enough to fit inside someone's home (prototype but not fully functional) (13359389583).jpg|thumb|Example for technology innovation: The off-grid Nano Membrane Toilet of [[Cranfield University]] – prototype on display at Reinvent the Toilet Fair in Delhi, India ]]
The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene ([[WASH]]) program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was launched in mid-2005 as a "Learning Initiative", and became a full-fledged program under the Global Development Division in early 2010.<ref name=":8"/> The foundation has since 2005 undertaken a wide range of efforts in the WASH sector involving research, experimentation, reflection, [[advocacy]], and field implementation. In 2009, the foundation decided to refocus its WASH effort mainly on [[sustainable sanitation]] services for the poor, using non-piped sanitation services (i.e. without the use of [[Sanitary sewer|sewers]]),<ref name=":8"/> and less on [[water supply]]. This was because the sanitation sector was generally receiving less attention from other [[Official development assistance|donors]] and from governments, and because the foundation believed it had the potential to make a real difference through strategic investments.

In mid-2011, the foundation announced in its new "Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Strategy Overview" that its funding now focuses primarily on sanitation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, because access to [[improved sanitation]] is lowest in those regions.<ref name=":0">BMGF (2011). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1663 Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Strategy Overview] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403091742/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1663 |date=April 3, 2016 }}, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref> Their grant-making focus has been since 2011 on sanitation science and technology ("transformative technologies"), delivery models at scale, urban sanitation markets, building demand for sanitation, [[Monitoring and evaluation|measurement and evaluation]] as well as policy, advocacy and communications.<ref name=":8"/><ref name=":0" />

In mid-2011, the foundation stated that they had committed more than $265 million to the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector over the past five years, i.e. since about 2006.<ref name=":0" /> For the time period of about 2008 to mid-2015, all grants awarded to water, sanitation, and hygiene projects totaled a value of around $650 million, according to the publicly available grant database.<ref name=":7" />
[[File:Earth auger toilet with squatting plate (13358958903).jpg|thumb|Example of low-tech toilet development being funded: A [[urine-diverting dry toilet]] called Earth Auger toilet from Ecuador/US]]
Improved sanitation in the developing world is a global need, but a neglected priority, as shown by the data collected by the [[Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation]] (JMP) of UNICEF and WHO. This program is tasked to monitor progress towards the [[Millennium Development Goal]] (MDG) relating to drinking water and sanitation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wssinfo.org/data-estimates/ |title=Data and estimates |access-date=March 12, 2015 |website=JMP – WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation |publisher=WHO/UNICEF|url-status = dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219114756/http://www.wssinfo.org/data-estimates |archive-date=February 19, 2015 }}</ref> About one billion people have no sanitation facility whatsoever and continue to defecate in gutters, behind bushes or in open water bodies, with no dignity or privacy. This is called [[open defecation]] and it poses significant health risks.<ref name=":2">JMP (2014). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2036 Progress on drinking water and sanitation, 2014 Update] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402115029/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2036 |date=April 2, 2015 }}. WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), {{ISBN|978 92 4 150724 0}}, page 6</ref> India is the country with the highest number of people practicing open defecation, with around 157 million people or approximately 11% of the total population in 2022, although the situation has improved significantly since then.<ref>{{cite web |last=KASHIWASE |first=HARUNA |date=17 November 2023 |title=World Toilet Day: 420 million people are defecating outdoors |url=https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/world-toilet-day-420-million-people-are-defecating-outdoors |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421000000/https://blogs.worldbank.org/en/opendata/world-toilet-day-420-million-people-are-defecating-outdoors |archive-date=21 April 2014 |access-date=31 August 2024 |website=[[World Bank Group]]}} [https://wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/JMP_report_2014_webEng.pdf Alt URL]</ref> The foundation has been funding many sanitation research and demonstration projects in India since about 2011.<ref>BMGF (2014). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2001 Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, Delhi, India – Program and Technical Guides] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402154415/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/2001 |date=April 2, 2015 }}. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref>

====Reinvent the Toilet Challenge====
In 2011, the foundation launched a program called "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge" with the aim to promote the development of innovations in toilet design to benefit the 2.5 billion people that do not have access to safe and effective sanitation.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge |title=What we do – Reinvent the Toilet Challenge – Strategy Overview |access-date=May 8, 2015 |publisher=Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |archive-date=July 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721050247/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=":1">BMGF (2012). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1636 Reinvent the Toilet Challenge (RTTC, Round 1 and 2), Grand Challenges Explorations (Round 6 and 7) – Request for proposals, grant conditions, Seattle exhibition fair program and exhibitor guide.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026131521/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1636 |date=October 26, 2014 }} Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref> This program has generated significant interest of the mainstream media.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/opinion/bill-gates-cant-build-a-toilet.html?_r=0 |title=Bill Gates Can't Build a Toilet |date=November 18, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |website=New York Times Opinion Pages |last=Kass |first=Jason |archive-date=March 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150325040746/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/19/opinion/bill-gates-cant-build-a-toilet.html?_r=0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/after-10-years-few-payoffs-from-gatesrsquo-lsquogrand-challengesrsquo/ |title=After 10 years, few payoffs from Gates' 'Grand Challenges' |date=December 21, 2014 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |website=The Seattle Times, Local News |publisher=The Seattle Times |last=Doughton |first=Sandy |archive-date=April 2, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402142325/http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/after-10-years-few-payoffs-from-gatesrsquo-lsquogrand-challengesrsquo/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was complemented by a program called "Grand Challenges Explorations" (2011 to 2013 with some follow-up grants reaching until 2015) which involved grants of $100,000 each in the first round.<ref name=":1"/> Both funding schemes explicitly excluded project ideas that relied on centralized [[sanitary sewer|sewerage systems]] or are not compatible with development country contexts.<ref name=":5">Radke, N., Spuhler, D. (2013) [http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-1636-gates-grant-schemes-simple-overview-may-2013-version-2.pdf Brief overview of conditions for water, sanitation and hygiene grants by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726172427/http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-1636-gates-grant-schemes-simple-overview-may-2013-version-2.pdf |date=July 26, 2024 }}</ref>
[[File:Microbial fuel cell stack that converts urine into electricity (13359544514).jpg|thumb|[[Microbial fuel cell]] stack that converts [[urine]] into electricity (research by the [[University of the West of England]], UK)]]
Since the launch of the "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge", more than a dozen research teams, mainly at universities in the U.S., Europe, India, China, and South Africa, have received grants to develop innovative on-site and off-site waste treatment solutions for the urban poor. The grants were in the order of $400,000 for their first phase, followed by typically $1 million – 3 million for their second phase; many of them investigated resource recovery or processing technologies for [[excreta]] or [[fecal sludge]].<ref>Elisabeth von Muench, Dorothee Spuhler, Trevor Surridge, Nelson Ekane, Kim Andersson, Emine Goekce Fidan, Arno Rosemarin (2013) [http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-2042-ssp-17okt20134-10-about-the-gates-sanitation-grants-on-forum.pdf Sustainable Sanitation Alliance members take a closer look at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's sanitation grants] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130222401/http://www.susana.org/_resources/documents/default/2-2042-ssp-17okt20134-10-about-the-gates-sanitation-grants-on-forum.pdf |date=November 30, 2016 }}, Sustainable Sanitation Practice Journal, Issue 17, p. 4-10</ref>

The "Reinvent the Toilet Challenge" is focused on "reinventing the [[flush toilet]]". The aim was to create a toilet that not only removes [[pathogen]]s from human [[excreta]], but also [[resource recovery|recovers resources]] such as energy, clean water, and [[nutrient]]s (a concept also known as [[reuse of excreta]]). It should operate "[[off-the-grid]]" without connections to water, sewer, or electrical networks. Finally, it should cost less than 5 cents per user per day.<ref name=":5" /><ref name="Shaw" />

High-tech toilets for tackling the growing public health problem of [[human waste]] are gaining increasing attention, but this focus on a "technology fix" has also been criticized by many in the sector.<ref name=":4" /> However, low-tech solutions may be more practical in poor countries, and research is also funded by the foundation for such toilets.<ref name="Shaw">{{cite book |url=http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1993 |title=A Collection of Contemporary Toilet Designs |date=2014 |publisher=EOOS and WEDC, Loughborough University, UK |isbn=978-1-84380-155-9 |pages=40 |last1=Shaw |first1=R. |access-date=April 10, 2017 |archive-date=September 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908020337/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1993 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Humphreys">{{cite journal |last=Humphreys |first=Gary | title=Reinventing the toilet for 2.5 billion in need | journal=Bulletin of the World Health Organization | volume=92 | issue=7 | date=1 July 2014 | pmid=25110370 | pmc=4121873 | doi=10.2471/BLT.14.020714 | doi-access=free | pages=470–471}}</ref>

The Reinvent the Toilet Challenge is a long-term research and development effort to develop a hygienic, stand-alone toilet. This challenge is being complemented by another investment program to develop new technologies for improved [[Fecal sludge management|pit latrine emptying]] (called by the foundation the "Omni-Ingestor"<ref>Frederick, R., Gurski, T. (2012). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1718 Synapse Dewatering Investigation Report – Omni-Ingestor Phase 2, Milestone 1] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726172433/https://www.susana.org/en/knowledge-hub/resources-and-publications/library/details/1718 |date=July 26, 2024 }}. Consultancy report by Synapse (USA) commissioned by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref>) and [[Septage|fecal sludge]] processing (called "[[Omni-Processor]]"). The aim of the "Omni Processor" is to convert [[excreta]] (for example [[Fecal sludge management|fecal sludge]]) into beneficial products such as energy and soil nutrients with the potential to develop local business and revenue.<ref>Kuchenrither, R. D., Stone, L., Haug, R. T. (2012). [http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1640 Omni-Processor Landscaping Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170613132857/http://www.susana.org/en/resources/library/details/1640 |date=June 13, 2017 }}. Consultancy report by WERF (Water Environment Research Foundation), commissioned by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Seattle, US</ref>

==== Examples of transformative technologies research ====
* About 200 sanitation projects in many different countries and at various scales – some with a technology focus, some with a focus on market development or policy and advocacy, have received funding from the foundation since 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.susana.org/en/resources/projects?vbl_2%5B%5D=&vbl_22%5B612%5D=612 |title=Projects, filtered by funding source Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |date=March 24, 2015 |access-date=March 24, 2015 |website=Sustainable Sanitation Alliance Website |archive-date=July 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726172937/https://www.susana.org/en/404-error-page-not-found |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The [[University of KwaZulu-Natal]] in Durban, South Africa Gates Foundation was awarded $1.6 million in 2014 to act as a hub for sanitation researchers and product developers.<ref name=":6">[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/26/residents-blame-durban-oil-refineries-for-health-problems Residents blame Durban oil refineries for health problems] The Guardian May 26, 2015</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2014/11/OPP1119939 |title=How we work, grant database (grant for UKZN) |access-date=May 27, 2015 |publisher=Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |archive-date=May 27, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527110601/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2014/11/OPP1119939 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* One example of an [[Omni-Processor]] is a [[combustion]]-based system designed to turn fecal sludge into energy and [[drinking water]]. The development of this particular prototype by U.S.-based company Janicki Bioenergy attracted media attention for the sanitation crisis and the work of the foundation after Bill Gates drank water produced from this process.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Omniprocessor-From-Poop-to-Potable |title=From poop to portable, This Ingenious Machine Turns Feces Into Drinking Water |date=January 5, 2015 |access-date=January 13, 2015 |website=gatesnotes, The Blog of Bill Gates |archive-date=January 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113004648/http://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Omniprocessor-From-Poop-to-Potable |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Examples for the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge include: Scientists at the [[University of Colorado Boulder]] were given funding of $1.8 million to develop a prototype [[toilet]] that uses solar heat to treat the [[feces|fecal matter]] and produce [[biochar]].<ref>{{cite web |title=World's First Solar Powered Toilet to be unveiled in India this month |url=http://news.biharprabha.com/2014/03/worlds-first-solar-powered-toilet-to-be-unveiled-in-india-this-month/ |work=IANS |date=March 14, 2014 |publisher=news.biharprabha.com |access-date=March 14, 2014 |archive-date=March 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140316051645/http://news.biharprabha.com/2014/03/worlds-first-solar-powered-toilet-to-be-unveiled-in-india-this-month/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2012/08/OPP1065047 |title=How we work, grant database (grant for Uni Colorado Boulder) |access-date=May 27, 2015 |publisher=Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |archive-date=July 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726173437/https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants |url-status=live }}</ref> Funding has been provided to [[RTI International]] since 2012 to develop a toilet based on electrochemical disinfection and solid waste combustion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Our Technology |url=http://abettertoilet.org/toilet-technologies/ |work=A Better Toilet For A Cleaner World |publisher=RTI International |access-date=March 17, 2014 |year=2014|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317082223/http://abettertoilet.org/toilet-technologies/ |archive-date=March 17, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database#q/k=RTI&issue=Water%2C%20Sanitation%2C%20and%20Hygiene |title=How we work, grant database (grants for RTI) |access-date=May 27, 2015 |publisher=Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation |archive-date=April 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408212512/http://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database#q/k=RTI&issue=Water%2C%20Sanitation%2C%20and%20Hygiene |url-status=live }}</ref>