The event was inaugurated and hosted by Mr. Sisir Pradhan, who is currently a Ph.D candidate at the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, University of Waterloo. Pradhan has worked with Kar for several years and highlighted various instances of their work together and the emergence and importance of CLTS moving forward.

Following that, Dalbir Singh, Sarpanch of Bilaspur Village from Panipat, one of the natural leaders from Haryana
elucidated his experience with CLTS, how the state of sanitation had undergone a change in his community, and how the community benefitted from CLTS. He also stated proudly that his community was now open defecation free (ODF). The author of the book, Dr. Kamal Kar then took the stage and elaborated upon the history and development of the CLTS movement and how the approach came to be adopted by various governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and international agencies, citing the successful transformation in Bangladesh to an ODF country using the CLTS approach.

Kar added some anecdotes from his experiences in Asia, Africa and Latin America on the strength of collective action to end open defecation. He also briefly outlined the important CLTS case studies which have been enumerated from around the world, as well as the need, obstacles and potential to scale-up the approach, taking the journey ‘From Village to Nation’.

Following the official launch, a panel discussion was held. The panel was moderated by Dr. Kar and the speakers included Mr. V.K. Madhavan of WaterAid India, Ms. Meena Narula of Water for People, and Mr. Jamie Myers of the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. As the theme of the event was ‘Behaviour Change and Human Dignity’, panellists elaborated upon a wealth of topics including gender impacts, subsidies for sanitation hardware, access to latrines, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA), and the ways forward for the CLTS movement.

While Madhavan applauded the national importance given to the SBA as a movement against open defecation, he stated that the program and the CLTS approach must be retrofitted to address the emerging challenges of inclusion, sanitation demands and post ODF sustainability in this journey towards total hygiene. He said “the CLTS approach is not only an effort to help people build toilets and use them. It is meant to help people transform towards hygiene behaviour”, thereby drawing attention to the next phase of WASH concerns.

Similarly, Kar praised the SBA but also stated that sanitation has turned from a people’s movement to the
government’s movement requiring more participation for sustainability. While Myers shared his experiences
from India and Africa to highlight the idea and impact of gender specific sanitation interventions, Narula
expanded on the need for an intermingling of local culture and practices towards bringing forth sustained
behaviour change for human dignity.

Members of the audience then posed a number of questions to the panellists, which focused on issues related to modifying CLTS in the future, CLTS solutions for women’s dignity and gender parity, institutional triggering, political factors, efficacy of subsidies, and others. The panellists shared their thoughts on making this a holistic movement with special focus on these emerging concerns.

After the panel discussion, Pradhan expanded upon the book, citing its various sections, case studies and
findings. He also described its various uses for the future of the CLTS program development and
implementation, as well as notable anecdotes from its writing and publishing. Mahesh Kumar, Sarpanch of
Basara from Haryana then took the podium to illustrate his experience with scaling up CLTS. He stated that
the momentum of the CLTS approach in Haryana was established because his village was involved in
helping neighbouring villages become ODF after becoming ODF itself. He emphasized that this strategy is
an effective way to build support and traction for CLTS.

The event was concluded with the closing address by Ms. Urvashi Asthana from Practical Action, India. She
thanked the various organizations, media and community members for attending the event and making their
presence felt. She also stated that this book marked the beginning of a new phase for CLTS.

About the Book

The book has been written by Dr. Kamal Kar, and is an extensive account of how the CLTS movement came about, got adopted/institutionalized by governments and other agencies, and spread across the world. It includes methodologies for influencing the sanitation policies at the national level as well as ‘triggering’ villages/regions/districts to initiate and sustain collective local action against open defecation. A major publication after more than a decade since the Handbook on CLTS was published in 2008, the book also encapsulates case studies from across the world with special emphasis on scaling up and institutionalization of the CLTS approach.

The book is available for purchase online at:-

1. https://developmentbookshop.com/scaling-up-community-led-total-sanitation?fbclid=IwAR3brsAlCqgxGAqrzVvOYuGqs6fgO5ueqsc75ahl0vCnQHLhUXZMd8rUvzc
2. https://www.amazon.in/Scaling-up-Community-Led-Total-Sanitation-village-ebook/dp/B07NNRYBQ3/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=scaling+up+CLTS&qid=1557120725&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spell

The post Book Launch | Scaling-Up CLTS From Village to Nation | 29th April 2019 appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.

CLTS Foundation Global with UNICEF Myanmar and other WASH partners

On 9^th January 2019, CLTS Foundation Global and UNICEF Myanmar initiated a discussion at the UNICEF Country Office in Bahan Yangon. The focus of the discussion was to review the progress in sanitation made by the nation so far and to look forward towards planning for scaling up of Open Defecation Free (ODF) initiatives in a meaningful partnership. The proposed agenda of the discussion was:-

1. Regional and global updates on CLTS initiatives focusing SDG 6.2 by Dr Kamal Kar
2. Brief updates on current ODF initiatives in Myanmar by WASH partners
3. Question/Answer/Discussion

The Sustainable Development Goal 6 is to ensure availability and sustainable management of water & sanitation for all. Target 6.2 within the goal specifies that by 2030, the world must achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations. This will be monitored by Indicator 6.2.1 which is the proportion of the population using safely managed sanitation services, including a hand-washing facility with soap and water.

Globally, there are 2.3 million people who still lack access to basic and safe sanitation services. According to the JMP Report, 2015, South East Asia accounts for 8.27% of people having access to basic sanitation; East and South-Eastern Asia accounts for 2.66% and Central and Southern Asia account for 33.25%. It is surprising to note that while most of the countries of South East Asia (For e.g. Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam) showed an improvement in the access to basic sanitation services from the year 2000 to the year 2015, Myanmar showed a decrease from 70% to 65% despite its efforts. The percentage is stunting among infants stands at 35%. The under-five mortality rate is 50 per 1000 live births and diarrhoea incidence is 61%.

What are the reasons for the decline and lack of sustainability in Myanmar?

Myanmar has the existence of CLTS guidelines in the local language but without adaptability. While the off criterion is being established, the current standards seem quite high considering the sanitation market’s underdevelopment with either limited access to markets by the rural population, very few affordable sanitation options, or both.

There is a lack of an enabling environment including the existence of a formal well circulated proper policy/strategy. Triggering and integration with other approaches have shown good results, however low triggering quality and post off support without the access and availability of materials for scaling up does not yield good results in the long term.

Sanitation is under the Ministry of Health and since it has been integrated with other approaches, one would assume that the sanitation and health outcomes would be better. However, CLTS process continues to be led by NGOs or other implementers and is not implemented under the government’s leadership leading financial crunch in terms of funding from the government. Coordination with other ministries for CLTS is ad hoc or nonexistent without any formal mechanism.

Myanmar has only shown improvement with regards to implementation which to a large extent the victory of the communities but the support after has not been enough to ensure sustainability. The lack of government commitment and associated budget and human resources is seen as holding back the scaling up of CLTS and taking it beyond the hands of development partners and NGOs into a national approach.  The need for well-trained facilitators, including from governments, with regular refresher training, was noted in Myanmar. Construction of low-quality latrines with pits that flood in high water table areas or collapse in sandy soils resulted in a reversion to open defecation. Village leaders can generate community support for individuals in the form of labour, materials or cash, but this depends on the strength of the local leader.

What does Myanmar need to do to ascend along the sanitation ladder?

• Establish a national level WASH policy/protocol and strategy including all stages of CLTS and across all levels.
• Develop market linkages to provide access to better sanitation materials- Example Lixil (Japanese company providing to African countries in 5-10$ )
• Develop local context related proper training and triggering materials and modules along with quality control mechanisms
• Remove subsidies and mainstream CLTS into the MoH guidelines and strategy
• Establish inter-institutional working groups from all ministries
• Create flexible funding from all the ministries for implementation of innovative ideas
• Include Natural Leaders and Community Consultants along with civil society organisations for scaling up and integration
• Establish proper ODF protocol at the national level including guidelines for continuous monitoring

The post Can Myanmar be the first ODF nation in South East Asia? appeared first on CLTS Foundation Global.