Local Initiatives for Better Hygiene: Four case studies from Asia

Updated - Friday 23 February 2007

Christine Sijbesma and Brian Appleton (eds.) (2007)

It is often said that we learn more from failure than we do from success. Not all case study authors though want to write about things that went wrong. The four cases in this publication contain a mix of positive and negative experiences in community-level efforts to improve hygiene behaviour. The authors, all members of a Thematic Group on Hygiene Promotion, have been frank about the failings of some initiatives, as well as assessing why other approaches have achieved significant successes.

In the Bangladesh Case study, for example, ARRM Kamal describes how a Village Development Committee (VDC) was able to bring about a seven-fold increase in latrine use in a small village community, but expresses disappointment that the programme fell short of its targets for improving handwashing behaviours and that the VDC became much less effective once the programme ended. In Kerala, India, a pioneering programme involving neighbourhood groups successfully trained 100 women masons, who proved to be highly effective change agents in improving hygiene behaviours. But, Beena Kumari notes that failure by the local authority (Grama Panchayat) to come up with pledged funds eventually led to the women masons being unpaid and most giving up altogether. The two cases from the Philippines record more shortcomings than successes. Rosalie Castro highlights the failings of a programme on the island of Mindanao in which a municipality's efforts to improve sanitation did not include any hygiene promotion. As a result the free toilet bowls were used as flower pots or nesting boxes for chickens. Audy Reginalde describes how residents of a remote municipality on Luzon island were forced to opt out of the flagship national rural water supply and sanitation project because of its focus on grandiose projects and long delays in implementing activities. The municipality made efforts to respond to the more appropriate needs of the residents, but lack of resources meant inadequate coverage and many people remaining unserved.

The prime purpose of this publication is to present readers with experiences and analyses that may help them to improve their own approaches and to offer encouragement to those wanting to initiate hygiene promotion activities at community level.