3.3.10 Hygiene and sanitation at scale in Amhara Region CLTS - Ethiopia

The project aimed at creating common ground among stakeholders, signing memoranda of understanding among WASH sectors and organising sustainable hygiene and sanitation activities.

A step-by-step approach was followed. First the problem context was mapped, then the partnership was leveraged, followed by the development of a strategy with a common goal and lastly the implementation of the strategised hygiene and sanitation activities in the districts.

For a successful strategy two facilitation levels were required:

1. External facilitation focused on pre-planning meetings with political leaders and sectors, training human resources for behaviour change, data collection and analysis including conducting baseline surveys and WSR.
2. Internal facilitation focused on community mobilization (ActionPlan), “do-able” actions, latrine construction and the sanitation campaign.

Among the key success factors were evidence based advocacy, creating common ground, multi level, multi sectoral and multi-communication approach and the Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach.

Financial resources were required only for software activities and no subsidy was given for construction.

The main achievements were that:

• a sustainable organisation at all level was created,
• inspired leadership emerged,
• well-trained motivators at grass roots level were established,
• well-thought out monitoring and evaluation indicators developed and used, and
• a follow up mechanism established.

Some of the key lessons learnt were that involving political leaders is key to success - starting from government policies - is key to success, creating an ignition moment can mobilize the whole community and that we should start with small do-ables.

The main challenge for the project was to get an effectively functioning steering committee.