Day 1 (30th November 2018): The CLTS Foundation Global team met with officials from UNICEF Eritrea including the Country Representative, the Deputy Country Representative and the WASH team members to discuss and develop a strategy for a successful mission at the Unicef office, UN Compound. The primary aim was to establish was to identify the cause for the low access to sanitation across the country and devise a plan to free up these bottlenecks in order to fast-track sanitation work in the near future. As of October 2018, only 907 amounting to 32% of the rural population have stopped practising open defecation. Therefore, there exists a mammoth size task in front of the stakeholders to accelerate the access to sanitation for all to achieve the SDG target.

However, the focus of this mission would be to draw from the good practices and successful outcomes the CLTS approach has demonstrated across the country to convince the stakeholders at the zoba(zonal) and national level to prioritise sanitation.

The meeting was to fine-tune the strategy for the first Eritrean Sanitation Conference to be held on the 11th and 12th of December this year. This will witness participation of a number of ministers, ambassadors from different countries, partners and departmental/ ministerial officials from the different levels to seek commitments from them to support and coordinate for faster, smoother and better quality implementation of CLTS across the country making Eritrea ODF soon.

Left to Right: David Tsetse (WASH Chief, UNICEF Eritrea), Dr. Kamal Kar (Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global), Dr. Pierre Ngom (Country Representative, UNICEF Eritrea),  Megha Sen (Programme Officer, CLTS Foundation Global), Shaya Asindua (Deputy Country Representative, UNICEF Eritrea), Geoffrey Acaye (CSD Chief, UNICEF Eritrea), Yirgalem Solomon (WASH Specialist, UNICEF Eritrea)

Day 3 (3rd of December): The CLTS Foundation Global team along with members from the UNICEF WASH team had a meeting with Her Excellency Amina Nurhussein, Minister of Health and Dr. Andat Tefatsion, Director General of  Public Health of The State of Eritrea. The discussion revolved around the current access to sanitation which stands at 32% and how the country could achieve better results in the coming years. The Minister was convinced of the power of collective local action and stated that the political willingness and enthusiasm from the community could make the country ODF by 2022. On a highly encouraging note, she also agreed with Dr. Kamal Kar, the Chairman of CLTS Foundation Global that the date of achievement for an ODF Nation could be advanced to 2020, given the right kind of enabling environment and motivation. She believes that the focus of all the ministries and stakeholders should move beyond the sub-national level to free up the blockages and the aim to become the first African country to achieve ODF National status.

Left to right: Megha Sen (Programme Officer, CLTS Foundation Global), Yirgalem Solomon (WASH Specialist, UNICEF Eritrea), H.E. Amina Nurhussein (Minister of Health), Dr. Kamal Kar (Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global), Mr. David Tsetse (WASH Chief, UNICEF Eritrea), Dr Andat Tefatsion (Director General of Public Health)

Day 4 (4th of December): Dr. Kamal Kar and Ms. Megha Sen of the CLTS Foundation Global Team along with Yirgalem Solomon, Wash Specialist  (UNICEF) met with Berhane Habtemariam, the Minister of Finance to seek his presence at the First National Sanitation Conference in Eritrea (Eri-San I) which is to be held on 11th and 12th of December. After an intense discussion on the urgent need for a common platform with the involvement of all institutional actors across all departments and levels to fast track access to sanitation in the country, the Minister agreed that it is crucial to hav e a healthy population to build capacity. He graciously accepted the invitation to the conference and agreed to show his support towards the national movement against open defecation.

Badaraoh village in Maekel Zoba

Day 5 (5th of December): Dr. Kamal Kar and Ms. Megha Sen met with Dr. Zemui and Mr. Abraham Milash Head of Sanitation and Health Unit under the Ministry of Health in order to prepare for the upcoming Field visit to the different Zobas as well as the Sanitation Conference. The CLTS Foundation Global team also visited Badaraoh village in the Maekel Zoba (89 out of 94 villages are ODF) to see the villages which have embraced and consistently maintained the ODF status for a long time. It was also interesting to note that these community members had not just refrained from open defecation but had also invested their resources to move along the sanitation ladder to better sanitation facilities including hand-washing systems. The women of this community spoke out about the need for better sanitation and how their health, dignity, privacy, security and environment had significantly improved since they stopped the practice of open defecation. a

Day 6 (6th of December): Dr. Kamal Kar and Ms. Megha Sen along with Mr. Abraham Milash Head of Sanitation and Health Unit under the Ministry of Health and other members visited Anseba Zoba to understand the status and quality of CLTS implementation in these areas. Anseba Zoba has comparatively performed better and 199 out of the total 295 villages have been declared ODF. The team visited Fanna village in Haggaz sub-zoba, Anseba Zoba. This village had successfully maintained its ODF status for almost a decade and showcased massive strength through collective action and social solidarity mechanisms. The women community members of the village said, ‘We do not have to go very far in this heat anymore and we can use the toilet next to our house which gives us more privacy and security and we have witnessed its health benefits, as well.’ The community members also showed the visiting team a toilet they had constructed for an 84-year-old man who was unable to do it himself due to physical, financial and familial constraints. When asked about the inspiration to keep their village ODF, the community members said that they have seen the health gains and want to continue them through clean and healthy practices and surroundings. The community members were requested to join the upcoming National Sanitation Conference and present their sanitation story to the high officials and ministers.

Picture above: Interactive session with community members from Fanna Village, Haggaz sub-zoba, Anseba Zoba

Day 7 (7th of December): The visiting team continued their travel to Gash Barka Zoba to understand the reasons for the inefficient implementation and monitoring in this particular area. The Environmental Health Officers and the Medical Officers of the Zoba explained that one of the reasons for heavy slippage to OD rate was the presence of nomadic communities and the unavailability of material. Following this, the team met with General Tekhle, an Army official who has become a crusader against the practice of OD in the area and mobilized his army officers to make the Zoba ODF. He proudly said that the Zoba communities are capable of changing and sustaining their sanitation practices even before the official date of declaration. He also said that Gash Barka will set an example for other Zoba Army Generals to mobilize their troops in the fight against OD. The team proceeded to meet the Zoba Governor who said that though it is an ambitious task to make the Zoba ODF in a short span, keeping in mind the huge number of villages (937 Total and 211 ODF), all the efforts will be undertaken to make this a reality.

Picture above: National Sanitation Conference Day 1, Eritrea

Community Members presenting their sanitation story

Speech by Mr. Ian Richards, the British Ambassador to Eritrea

The post CLTS Foundation Global in National Sanitation Conference 2018, Eritrea appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

Dr Kamal Kar interacting with Mr Cheary Pom, Director, MoRD, Govt. of Cambodia and HE Dr Yim Chhay Ly, Deputy Prime Minister, Cambodia. Photo: Amit Sengupta

The conference was inaugurated by the Deputy Prime Minister of Cambodia, HE Dr. Yim Chhay Ly who reiterated the need to accelerate access to sanitation in Cambodia through CLTS approach. The Minister of Rural Development, HE Dr. Ouk Rabun committed to speed up the momentum of sanitation in Cambodia.

HE Dr Yim Chhay Ly, Deputy Prime Minister, Cambodia inaugurating the regional conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: Amit Sengupta

More than 100 WASH experts from Cambodia, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor Leste, India, Pakistan, Nepal deliberated on creating a pathway towards an ODF South East Asia in the 3-day conference. Senior representatives of the governments (Myanmar, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Lao PDR), WASH experts from International development agencies like Plan International, SNV, WSSCC (Geneva), World Bank, UNICEF, Water Aid, World Vision, and several national NGOs from Cambodia and international media participated in the conference.

Mr Cheary Pom, Director, MoRD, Cambodia making his country presentation in the conference. Photo: Amit Sengupta

HE Dr Ouk Rabun, Minister for Rural Development at the closure ceremony of the conference. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Mr. Chreay Pom, Director, Department of Rural Health Care, Ministry of Rural Development, Royal Government of Cambodia said: “CLTS has contributed significantly to improving our rural sanitation particularly reducing open defecation practice which is a major problem for our country.  However, accelerating progress to enable complete eradication of open defecation and sustaining our ODF achievements to date require more synergy with different initiatives.  I am therefore hopeful that this Conference will bring good outcomes that could support us in our continuing efforts to achieve our rural sanitation and hygiene vision.”

Mr Chander Badloe, Regional Advisor, UNICEF making a presentation on ‘Overview of Sanitation in South East Asia’. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Dr. Kamal Kar, Chairman, CLTS Foundation Global in his key note speech said that countries which has made progress on sanitation during the MDGs had some of these key commonalities: “They were led by Ministry of Health that focused on health outcomes than toilet infrastructures or counting of toilets; they had a clear national sanitation strategy with a clear road map; most of these countries had a wide network of Natural Leaders and Community Consultants; they also witnessed the emergence of CLTS Champions at the highest leadership levels. Moreover, these countries were able to change the mindset of donor agencies and create an appropriate enabling environment that helped in converging the efforts of multiple actors towards realizing the national goal rather than disconnected and piecemeal success on CLTS.”

Mr Lamberto Pinto, PHD, making a presentation on Timor Leste. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Some of the key sessions of the conference were ‘Overview of sanitation in the entire South East Asia region’, deliberations on the MDG experience of sanitation in the region, key challenges the countries face going forward towards achieving SDG and the critical building blocks for scaling-up in the region. One of the interesting sessions was the discussion on Post ODF Sustainability.

Dr Kar reiterated that: “As countries from the South East Asia region move towards the SDGs, they have to make a holistic approach to sanitation right from policy framework, in programming and implementation. Sanitation has to be everyone’s business by involving diverse stakeholders. Sanitation outcomes have to be measured in terms of health outcomes, not by counting of toilets.”

Dr. Than Lwin Tun,
Regional Public Health Director,
Sagaing Region, Myanmar making his country presentation. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Deliberations from this conference will be applied to develop a roadmap and action plan for the South East Asia region towards achieving ODF nations in the coming years.

CLTS Foundation Global is committed to facilitate capacity building and provide strategic roadmap to all Governments and international development agencies of the South East Asia region in marching towards the country’s ODF dream respectively.

More than 100 WASH participants from 12 countries participated in the workshop. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Some more photos from the conference:

Syed Shah Nasir, Executive Director, IRSP, Pakistan. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Dr. P Ulaganathan, District Magistrate, Murshidabad, Govt. of West Bengal. Photo: Amit Sengupta

James Wicken, Country Director, Water Aid Cambodia. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Dr Imran Agus Nurali, Director, Directorate of Environmental Health, Govt. of Indonesia. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Kiettisak, Ketsadasak from Plan International, Lao PDR. Photo: Amit Sengupta

Hybunna Hang from Plan International, Cambodia. Photo: Amit Sengupta

If you want to get in touch with CLTS Foundation Global, please write to cltsfoundation@gmail.com

Report: CLTS REGIONAL CONFERENCE REPORT-15 to17 Nov,2017, Phnom Penh

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