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Community Driven Sanitation Behavior Change - Towards ODF

 

The first target is to declare Open Defecation Free (ODF) zones, Ward by Ward, Municipality by Municipality, District by District, and eventually Zone by Zone. The household sanitation behaviour change focuses on stopping open defecation. Behaviour change is achieved via the so-called ‘trigger-based’ approach, which is applied at both community and individual levels.

 

To implement the triggering activities at community and household levels, RWSSP-WN II trains Ward and Municipality WASH Coordination Committee (W-WASH-CC and M-WASH-CC) members and local support persons to plan and apply a number of different ‘triggering tools’. The Municipality stakeholders and support persons, in turn, train a group of local volunteers on the use of these triggering tools. 

 

These triggering activities are intended to lead to sanitation behavior change and the achievement of an open defecation free community via the following process:

 

  • Entire community analyses their own sanitation situation 

  • A sense of collective shame, disgust and helplessness creeps in 

  • Community is compelled to think and act 

  • Community resolves to eliminate open defecation 

  • Natural leaders emerge 

  • Collective local action is initiated towards total behavior change in sanitation

  • Triggering activities are supplemented by behavior change communications via other channels, including street drama, rallies, radio broadcasts, etc.

 

The intended final outcome of this triggering process is the achievement of open defecation free Wards and Municipalities. Once a Municipality has been ODF-declared (after a verification process), the second stage Total Sanitation behavior change starts. 

 

Examples of triggering tools:

 

  • Walk of Shame 

  • Defecation mapping 

  • Calculation of faeces 

  • Calculation of faeces ingested by a person 

  • Cost of illness 

  • Respect to occupation 

  • Flow diagram for water contamination 

  • Respect of women 

  • Holy ignition 

  • Open defecation and begging 

  • Faeces to mouth transmission 

  • Water quality testing

  • Privacy 

  • What if she/he had toilet at home 

  • Peer group pressure 

  • Fear 

  • Economic reasoning

  • Demonstration effect 

  • Health 

  • Infidelity 

  • Reward/Incentive 

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