Sustainable Sanitation for All: Experiences, challenges and innovations

Abstract

Great strides have been made in improving sanitation in many developing countries. Yet, 2.4 billion people worldwide still lack access to adequate sanitation facilities and the poorest and most vulnerable members of society are often not reached and their specific needs are not met. Moreover, sustainability is currently one of the key challenges in CLTS and wider WASH practice, subsuming issues such as behaviour change, equity and inclusion, physical sustainability and sanitation marketing, monitoring and verification, engagement of governments, NGOs and donors, particularly after open defecation free (ODF) status is reached, and more. Achievement of ODF status is now recognised as only the first stage in a long process of change and sanitation improvement, with new challenges emerging every step of the way, such as how to stimulate progress up the sanitation ladder, how to ensure the poorest and marginalised are reached, or how to maintain and embed behaviour change.

There have been several useful studies on sustainability that have highlighted some of these different aspects as well as the complexities involved. This book develops these key themes by exploring current experience, practices, challenges, innovations and insights, as well as identifying a future research agenda and gaps in current knowledge. Describing the landscape of sustainability of CLTS and sanitation with reference to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and through examples from Africa and Asia, the book captures a range of experiences and innovations from a broad range of institutions and actors within the WASH sector, and attempts to make recommendations and practical suggestions for policy and practice for practitioners, funders, policy-makers and governments.

Chapter available as individual PDFs: 1. Going beyond open defecation free, Naomi Vernon and Petra Bongartz; 2. Sanitation in Bangladesh: revolution, evolution, and new challenges, Suzanne Hanchett; 3. Building environments to support sustainability of improved sanitation behaviours at scale: levers of change in East Asia Nilanjana Mukherjee; 4. Strengthening post-ODF programming: reviewing lessons from sub-Saharan Africa, Ann Thomas; 5. CLTS and sanitation marketing: aspects to consider for a better integrated approach, Twitty Munkhondia, Warren Mukelabai Simangolwa and Alfonso Zapico Maceda; 6. User-centred latrine guidelines – integrating CLTS with sanitation marketing: a case study from Kenya to promote informed choice, Yolande Coombes; 7. Sanitation infrastructure sustainability challenges case study: Ethiopia, Hunachew Beyene; 8. The long-term safe management of rural shit, Jamie Myers; 9. Beyond ODF: a phased approach to rural sanitation development, Andrew Robinson and Michael Gnilo; 10. Roles and responsibilities for post-ODF engagement: building an enabling institutional environment for CLTS sustainability, Samuel Musembi Musyoki; 11. Who is managing the post-ODF process in the community? A case study of Nambale sub-county in western Kenya, Elizabeth Wamera; 12. Tools for embedding post-ODF sustainability: experiences from SNV Nepal, Anup Kumar Regmi; 13. Certification of open defecation free status: emerging lessons from Kenya, Lewnida Sara; 14. Promoting choice: smart finance for rural sanitation development, Andrew Robinson and Michael Gnilo; 15. Putting the hardest to reach at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals, Sue Cavill, Sharon Roose, Cathy Stephen, and Jane Wilbur; 16. Leave no one behind: equality and nondiscrimination in sanitation and hygiene, Archana Patkar; 17. Purity, pollution, and untouchability: challenges affecting the adoption, use, and sustainability of sanitation programmes in rural India, Aashish Gupta, Diane Coffey, and Dean Spears; 18. Using social norms theory to strengthen CATS impact and sustainability, Therese Dooley, Louise Maule, and Michael Gnilo; 19. Conclusion: gaps in knowledge and further research needs, Naomi Vernon and Petra Bongartz.