Those who have tried toilet training a pet dog or cat know that it can be a difficult proposition. How about toilet training a flock of 30 chickens?
You’re now asking “Um… why would I want to?” Because in poor countries chickens are everywhere, chickens are pooping wherever they want, and chicken poop is dangerous for young children.
Sustainable Sanitation at scale and saturation can be achieved only by way of CLTS. Community Participation is the key and behavior change is most crucial aspect. ODF is first step; #ODF 2.0 is the next logical walk.
Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) has long been considered a necessary companion to WASH interventions but the relationship between ‘doing’ and ‘observing’ continues to be a tricky one. Over three sessions during the UNC Water and Health conference last week, Professor Barbara Evans and Dr Jamie Bartram took participants through a highly interactive investigation of where M&E are currently at in the WASH world, which fuelled conversations both in and outside the sessions.
Looking at achieving the sustainable development goals, Sanitation and Water for All (SWA) has taken the lead in developing some key collaborative behaviour that if adopted by governments and WASH sectors stakeholders could accelerate progress.
What could everyone do for example in increasing chances of villages attaining ODF faster and sustaining ODF? The 4 collaborative behaviours identified and that formed the core of discussions in some side events and the plenary sessions are:
Now that the first year of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is almost over, it’s no surprise that a lot of the conversation at the UNC Water and Health Conference this week has centred on how WASH-related targets (mostly within Goal 6) will be met and, in particular, how they will be monitored.
I am attending the 2016 Water and Health conference organised by the Water Institute at University of North Carolina USA. The conference whose theme is ‘where science meets policy’ focuses on safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene and water resources. Participants and presenters include members of academia, governments, development banks, donor agencies and WASH implementers. So far, I attended sessions that discussed experiences from implementing projects around the world as well as results of case studies in the area of WASH.
The Solomon Islands has a reputation for being laid back and the smiling, barefooted airlines hostess that greets me at the grassy strip formerly known as Fera Airport, in Isabel Province, portrays this in typical fashion. Coconut palms sway in the gentle breeze and as the 10 seater plane slides back down the muddy island runway, the hostess laughs guiltily from our transit boat, telling me that the plane came and went ahead of schedule, leaving passengers on the two boats heading our way stranded. Nobody seems too phased.
Since it first took place in 2008, Africa Water Week has been increasing in its relevance. The African Ministers' Council on Water (AMCOW), which has been in charge of its organisation since 2009, has set and led a common ground for all the African countries around water and sanitation. AMCOW is also in charge of organising AfricaSan.
Last week I attended the World Water Week Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. It was my first time at this huge event and I didn’t know what to expect. Although it was quite overwhelming at first, in the end it proved to be very fruitful and enjoyable.
Ajit Tiwari is Deputy Commissioner, Swachh Bharat Mission, Madhya Pradesh. Years ago, prior to launch of Swachh Bharat, he was working as BDO of Budhni block in Sehore district, and was exposed to CLTS training. He says everyday he went to the training thinking that he would attend that day only if he found it useful- and ended up attending all five days. To convince himself of the practicality of approach, he started ‘triggering’ techniques in villages himself. Village after village began to become ODF in his district.
