Community-led total sanitation – promising antecedent toattain fully sanitized villages in Ethiopia

摘要

Strategies for sanitation and hygiene in Ethiopia in the past focused more on the provision of informationwith the expectation that this will elicit change. However, much has not changed in the sector both interms of access, use and improved hygiene practices. In the Ethiopian context, a number of approachesare being implemented including Community Conversation, Community Dialogue and Community-LedTotal Sanitation (CLTS). The latter, CLTS, is characterized by participatory facilitation, communityanalysis and action, and no hardware subsidy. It is viewed as a primary strategy for improving usage oflatrines and not only counting the physical assets.As CLTS focuses primarily on enabling communities for a collective action on issues that affect theirhealth, it has been observed that in places where CLTS ignition has taken place such communitiesbecome receptive for the rest of the HEP packages. Therefore it is important to note that successfulapplication of CLTS approaches would pave the way for the acceptance and uptake of the other elementsof the HEP by communities