Sanitation is a fundamental human right, impacting public health, dignity, and quality of life. Yet, over 1.7 billion people worldwide lack access to a toilet, creating a significant public health threat, and environmental concerns besides. On the surface, the solution is a simple one: build more toilets and sanitation infrastructure, educate the users, and create maintenance systems, right?
However, the devil is in the details. Let’s say we needed to build toilets – what design would we use? You couldn’t construct Indian toilets for Italians, for instance because as a population, they aren’t accustomed to doing deep squats. The design may not work for elderly Italians. In much the same way, toilets without bidets don’t work for Indians who are used to washing with water.
Constructing toilets is just the tip of the iceberg. Communication and education need to be very nuanced and culturally appropriate, particularly when we talk about a subject as intimate as sanitation. Ditto maintenance. In India, there is significant stigma associated with cleaning toilets. Therefore, any messaging around maintenance of public toilets needs to keep that in mind.
As you can imagine, this creates enormous stress on large scale programs like the Swachh Bharat Mission. How could they come up with the ‘right’ solution for a land as diverse as India?
Which is why Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) can be so revolutionary. In a nutshell, CLTS puts control back in the hands of the community. They get to come up with their own solutions, collaboratively. Rooted in the principles of empowerment and collective action, CLTS moves beyond traditional top-down methods, and instead focuses on community engagement and behavioural change. In essence, it aims to create clean communities through a participatory process that instils a sense of ownership and responsibility amongst participants.
What is Community-Led Total Sanitation?
CLTS was first developed in Bangladesh in 1999 by Kamal Kar, a development consultant, and later spread to 69 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where more than 40 million people are now living in environments where no one needs to go to the toilet in the open. CLTS has also been mainstreamed in the sanitation policies of over 25 countries in these regions.
Instead of relying on external interventions or subsidies, CLTS facilitates a process of collective action and behaviour change among community members. Through participatory tools such as transect walks, mapping, and triggering, CLTS helps communities to analyze their sanitation problems, identify the negative impacts of their existing practices, and generate a sense of urgency and ownership to take remedial actions.
Since CLTS also encourages communities to use locally available materials and resources to construct their own sanitation facilities according to their preferences and capacities, it also creates local experts who can construct, repair and maintain these facilities.
Community-Led Total Sanitation in India
India is one country that has adopted CLTS as a national strategy for rural sanitation. Under the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), launched in 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India aimed to ensure that each Indian has access to a toilet. CLTS was first introduced in Ahmednagar and Nanded districts, Maharashtra, in 2002. During the Total Sanitation Campaign, CLTS was reportedly being used in 16 Indian states. Apart from Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh was the most successful. It was the only state to adopt a no-subsidy model with a community-owned agenda. CLTS has also been used in three urban areas: Kalyani near Kolkata in west Bengal (2005-07); Raigad near Mumbai in Maharashtra (2008); and Nanded in North-Western Maharashtra (2011).
The Swachh Bharat Mission adopts a CLTS approach, with a focus on behaviour change and community mobilisation. The Swachh Bharat Mission also provided incentives for households to construct toilets, and rewards for villages that achieve open defecation free status. With over 11 crore toilets constructed and 6 lakh villages certified ODF, the Swachh Bharat Mission is one of the largest behaviour change campaigns in history.
Beyond Building Toilets
Even though the Swachh Bharat Mission has achieved unprecedented success when it comes to creating infrastructure, there is still a long road ahead when it comes to driving adoption. As the Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat Mission found, behavioural change communication is key to driving adoption, and creating a sense of collective ownership towards community toilets.
The GoI has a staunch ally in Harpic, India’s leading brand in the lavatory care segment, which has been championing toilet santition using thought provoking campaigns and outreach programs. Harpic, together with News18, also created the Mission Swachhta aur Paani initiative 3 years ago. Mission Swachhta aur Paani is a movement that upholds the cause of inclusive sanitation where everyone has access to clean toilets. Mission Swachhta aur Paani advocates equality for all genders, abilities, castes and classes and strongly believes that clean toilets are a shared responsibility.
For 3 years now, Mission Swachhta aur Paani has brought together the right stakeholders on a common platform, so that issues of importance can be discussed, and solutions found. These stakeholders include govt officials, municipalities, NGOs, activists, grassroots organisations, sanitation workers and affected communities. It also functions as a repository for information on a vast variety of topics surrounding toilet access, toilet hygiene, and how to help improve toilet access and toilet habits across the board.
Mission Swachhta aur Paani has worked with several stakeholders to create sensitive and effective communications suited for various audiences. This article is one of them. So is an initiative partnering with Sesame Workshop India to promote positive sanitation, hygiene knowledge and toilet behaviours among children and families through schools and communities, engaging with 17.5 million children across India. This partnership also yielded a brand new Sanitation for Good Health curriculum aimed at children at the preschool level that educates, entertains and engages children with the topic of sanitation and toilet hygiene, and the role it plays in their own health and the health of their families. It uses age appropriate communication in the form of two characters: KK Kitanu and Neela Jaadugar whose adventures serve to teach children.
Children aside, Harpic has also worked to empower sanitation workers across India through the Harpic World Toilet Colleges. These not only equip these workers with the right training, but also educate them on safety regulations and PPE, and give them the confidence to ask for the right equipment. In this way, Harpic is also changing the way sanitation work is viewed, uplifting the entire profession, and creating dignity and safety for sanitation workers. Moreover, it is creating a steady pipeline of trained sanitation workers who can carry the vision of a Swachh Bharat into the future.
You too, are a part of this larger community, and you too can add your voice, your perspectives, and your talents to the larger effort. Join us here, in helping bring about a more Swasth and Swachh Bharat.