Learn how the Global Sanitation Fund-supported programme in Madagascar is promoting sustainability and achieving strong sanitation and hygiene results trough a cycle of learning, progress and innovation.
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The national context
Photo: Members of a local sanitation and hygiene advocacy group in the fokontany of Anjalazala celebrate achieving open defecation free status. Credit: FAA/Nirina Roméo Andriamparany
The latest report from the Joint Monitoring Programme of the United Nations Children’s Fund and World Health Organization highlights revealing statistics on Madagascar’s sanitation and hygiene situation. Approximately 12 percent of the country’s population have access to improved sanitation, while 18 percent have access to shared sanitation that is unimproved, and 30 percent have access to other types of unimproved sanitation. Furthermore, 40 percent defecate in the open. Ensuring improved sanitation and hygiene for all remains a major challenge in the country, but innovations from local partners supported by the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) are vigorously helping to transform this situation.
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The CLTS journey
Photo: ‘Triggering’ children in the commune of Mangarano, using the open defecation mapping tool. Credit: FAA/Fano Randriamanantsoa
In rural Madagascar, CLTS is the preferred approach for eliminating open defecation, and these actions also drive overall improvements in sanitation and hygiene. CLTS was introduced in the country in 2008, following its success in Asia. The crux of the approach lies in creating an enabling environment in which communities become self-reliant and improve their own sanitation and hygiene situation without external help.
Video: CLTS ‘triggering in action
CLTS focuses on igniting change in sanitation and hygiene behavior within whole communities, rather than constructing toilets through subsidies. During this social awakening, or ‘triggering’ process in Madagascar, the community looks for visible faeces in their environment. When people realize they are eating faeces this provokes disgust, shame and impacts on dignity. The community then makes and immediate decision to end open defecation. These steps are highlighted in the above video.
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Innovations in sanitation and hygiene behaviour change methods
As the first GSF programme, the Fonds d’Appui pour l’Assainissement (FAA) was the testing ground for various approaches based on the essence of CLTS, which helped to drive the programme’s learning and sharing culture. Sub-grantees have utilized a range of approaches within local communities, sharing their challenges and success with the larger FAA team. Through FAA’s strong learning and sharing system, many of these approaches have been evaluated for their potential to be implemented on a larger scale, and some have become best practices, both within and outside of Madagascar. This case study highlights three best practice approaches evaluated and utilized by the FAA programme: Follow-up MANDONA, local and institutional governance and sanitation marketing.
Follow-up MANDONA
Inspired by CLTS triggering approaches, Follow-up MANDONA is aimed at helping communities speed up their achievement of open defecation free status and initiate the development of local governance mechanisms for sustainability.
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Read the full article on the WSSCC website.
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