Goals

• The rural and peri-urban communities and schools in the project areas have obtained the 100% Open Defecation Free (ODF) status.
• Adequate sanitation and hygiene practices are applied by the persons in the project areas.
• Empowered communities have effectively developed their own sanitation and hygiene systems and maintain them.
• Country specific models of the CLTS approach are developed.
• Local entrepreneurs are trained to construct and build affordable sanitation.

Details of current status

Esides sanitation the project in Zambia will also focus on the provision of water for multiple uses (MUS). By the end of August 2011, 40 wells have been protected, 27 tube wells have been drilled and 26.834 people have gained access to safe water. Also, 211 of the 600 targeted villages have been triggered and 69 have gained the ODF status. During the first one and a half year, the program mainly focussed on providing the water points. Now that the water points are in place, the program in 2012 will focus more on the sanitation and nutrition component. Communities will be stimulated to set up nutrition gardens around the water points, and an additional 200 communities will be triggered in order to reach the target of 600 villages. Also sanitation will be improved in 5 more schools, and community hygiene promotion activities will be set up through the use of purchase of Information Education and Communication (EIC) materials and through participation in international events like World Toilet Day and World Hand washing Day.

Monitoring and evaluation will be an on-going activity throughout the life of the project. In 2012 special attention will be given to the verification, certification and ODF celebrations, in which monitoring plays a crucial role.

Details of project plan

• To empower the population to install by itself appropriate sanitation facilities and undertake proper hygiene practices through the approaches of Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) and Urban Total Sanitation (UTS).
• To engage and assist the (local) authorities in the process for continuation and scaling up to reach (much) more persons.
• To engage the private sector in construction and maintenance of the toilets.
• To develop national and international networks for lobby and advocacy on this low cost sanitation approach, for exchange and coordination between organisations, and for action research towards best and acceptable approach models.
• To start with an inception phase for better coordination and network development (estimated 6 months) , followed by the implementation (3.5 yrs), and a final year to assure sustainability.

Impact

When all households in a community have built their own toilet and improved their hygiene practices, the number of waterborne diseases and deaths will reduce, especially among children.

Spin off and market impact

Besides the health impact, communities have also obtained tools to organize themselves and improve their living conditions through collective actions, like improving the drinking water supply or solid waste collection, without external subsidy.

Lessons learned

Let communities first attain ODF and then provide safe drinking water which should then be followed by the livelihood component.

Technologies used

Community Led Total Sanitation
Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is a sanitation promotion strategy that focuses on igniting a change in sanitation behaviour. CLTS focuses on the dangers of open defecation and emphasizes the sense of disgust about this practice. Social solidarity, help and cooperation among the households in the community are a common and vital element in CLTS.

Through the CLTS approach awareness is raised on sanitation and hygiene practices in rural communities, and the population is triggered into collective action to improve the hygiene situation by themselves. When communities reach the status “100% Open Defecation Free (ODF)”the community receives an official certificate and the occasion is celebrated.

The goal of CLTS is for communities to reach Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. The approach includes the following steps:
1. Organise a village meeting and discuss their current sanitation practices
2. Visit sites of open defecation by with community members and leaders.
3. Community members will map out the areas of open defecation.
4. The community members will work out how much human waste they produce in total per week, year etc.
5. The community draws up an action plan to tackle the situation.
6. Health and hygiene promotion sessions are carried out.
7. Construction of latrines
8. Community is awarded the ODF status and a sign is erected at the entrance of the village.

Plan was among the first organisations to introduce the CLTS approach in Africa. The approach is successful and other organisations like Unicef, WSP, WaterAid have also start using the approach in Africa.

In Ethiopia Plan mainly uses the School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) Approach in which schools serve as centres of change within the communities. School children bring home the lessons learned on toilet use and hygiene behaviour and influence their families and other children in the community.