How can water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practitioners ensure that people who may be disadvantaged benefit effectively from sanitation programmes? Ten principles, generated through WSSCC-supported learning and research, can help drive equality and non-discrimination forward.

1. Recognize differences across all communities and look for those who might be excluded from the programme. Start to wear ‘glasses’ with lenses that allow you to see people who might be disadvantaged as part of the whole community.
   
   
2. Adhere to the ‘do no harm’ concept to ensure that people do not become worse off as a result of the programme’s actions. Always listen to the voices of disadvantaged people, ensure people’s right to privacy, train partners on EQND issues, monitor and evaluate activities, and insure information is accessible to all.
   
   
3. Respect all members of the community and ensure their dignity, even if you don’t agree with a person’s lifestyle.
   
   
4. Consider the identification of disadvantage as a process rather than a one-off activity – use every contact with the community to consider if some people might be excluded, in what way, and what can be done about it.
   
   
5. Consider how those who are potentially disadvantaged can be actively involved throughout the process (e.g. as Natural Leaders or committee members) and benefit from the outputs (e.g. the use of facilities and skills training).
   
   
6. Encourage people to undertake tasks themselves wherever possible, to boost empowerment and self-confidence; but also recognize where external support is required, whether from the community or external to the community, ensuring that people who are disadvantaged are not put under unnecessary levels of stress and pressure.
   
   
7. Be conscious about the power dynamics between community members and aware that some groups are deliberately excluded and marginalized by communities.
   
   
8. External support should be provided transparently and should identify ways to enable community members to be involved in decision making on how it should be used.
   
   
9. Collaborate with local organizations representing those who are disadvantaged and seek their advice and engagement with the programme.
   
   
10. Continue to learn and build on experiences as to how best to include and benefit from the skills and knowledge of people who may be disadvantaged, and share this knowledge with others.

More information on these and other principles, as well as good EQND practices, can be found in the following publications: Scoping and Diagnosis of the Global Sanitation Fund’s Approach to Equality and Non-Discrimination and Equality and non-discrimination (EQND) in sanitation programmes at scale

Last week, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) was an active participant at the World Water Week in Stockholm. In a new blog on the event, WSSCC's Carolien van der Voorden reflects on conversations around sanitation and the circular economy, the CLTS journey and opportunities ahead, equality and non-discrimination and the role of civil society.

Read her blog here: bit.ly/2f27il0

A new Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) study assesses its Global Sanitation Fund's (GSF) approach to equality and non-discrimination (EQND).

The study reveals that many people who may be considered disadvantaged have benefited positively from GSF-supported programmes, particularly in open defecation free verified areas. In addition, a range of positive outcomes and impacts related to empowerment, safety, convenience, ease of use, self-esteem, health, dignity, an improved environment and income generation were reported by people who may be considered disadvantaged.

However, the study finds that GSF has not yet systematically integrated EQND throughout the programme cycle. Across all countries, there are people who have either fallen through the net or whose lives have become more difficult after being unduly pressured, or after taking out loans and selling assets to build toilets. More proactive attention is needed throughout the programme cycle to build on current successes and ensure that people are not left behind or harmed through the actions or omissions of supported programmes.

GSF is in the process of putting the study’s recommendations into practice through revised guidelines, minimum standards and practical tools.

Download the full study, as well as a summarized version with GSF reflections, and annexes: bit.ly/2v5uZz6

WSSCC’s new Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) Progress Report shows that GSF’s support to governments and partners across 13 countries has enabled 15 million people to end open defecation, since the Fund's launch in 2008. Other cumulative results include 12.8 million people with access to improved toilets, and 20 million with access to handwashing facilities.

As WSSCC’s funding arm, GSF strives for universal access to sustainable and equitable sanitation and hygiene, as called for in the Sustainable Development Goals. Read more: bit.ly/2sm9MyG / Download the report in English or French: bit.ly/2t0wcas



Sustaining results:
GSF has placed, and continues to place, considerable efforts on understanding and addressing the conditions that can shape or affect the sustainability of programme results.

In 2016, GSF published a reflection paper on slippage and sustainability , sharing substantial evidence from Madagascar and other supported countries. A paper on catalytic programming for scale and sustainability was also published, which was the result of a global GSF Learning Event and compiled key learning from all GSF-supported programmes. In addition, strategies, approaches and tools have been developed and refined across GSF-supported programmes, to drive scale and sustainability. For example, the Madagascar programme developed Follow-up MANDONA , which helps communities rapidly achieve and sustain ODF status. In Nepal, a sustainability survey was conducted, and building on the study's methodology, GSF began working with the University at Buffalo to develop a standardized outcome survey methodology.

Meet Freddy, a fly who loves toilet fondue! Find out what happens to him when the village he lives in is triggered into cleaning up their act to become open defecation free (ODF).

Please share this video widely and use Freddy to illustrate how behaviour change methods, including Community-Led Total Sanitation, work to help communities become healthier and more productive. And join the ODF movement at wsscc.org!

Many non-governmental and intergovernmental organizations, as well as bilateral and multilateral donors, recognize the importance of closely working with governments in sanitation and hygiene programmes. Collective behaviour change approaches, such as Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), are also increasingly being embraced by governments as an alternative to traditional subsidy and enforcement-based approaches. A new Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) case study presents eight lessons learned from the GSF-supported Uganda Sanitation Fund (USF) in coordinating, planning, and implementing CLTS at scale through a decentralized government system.

Managed by Uganda's Ministry of Health, the USF is the largest programme of its kind in the country. By September 2016, the USF reported helping over three million people live in open defecation free environments.

Read the case study on wsscc.org or download the attachment below.

In Cambodia, a Global Sanitation Fund (GSF)-supported programme is using real-time and action learning techniques to increase its impact. The project focuses on generating real-time, emergent learning for implementing partners, to solve complex problems as they occur. Building on renowned research, the learning and documentation activities are designed to inform strategic implementation and support the rigorous documentation of knowledge and evidence. Through the continuous feedback and exchange generated through social media, pause and reflect sessions and workshops, implementing partners have been able to make adjustments to their approaches rapidly and in real time. This has facilitated better networking and relationship building, new ideas, and increased visibility for issues of common concern among stakeholders.

Watch a video highlighting this work

In order to better understand the link between gender dynamics and the impact of its Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) interventions, the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) supported a study in a small number of communities in Madagascar. A new ‘GSF in focus’ case study highlights and reflects on the study. Read the case study on wsscc.org or download the attachment below.

'Sanitation and hygiene behaviour change at scale: Understanding slippage' is a new reflection paper published by WSSCC's Global Sanitation Fund. The paper explores how to discern slippage nuances and patterns, strategies to address, pre-empt and mitigate it, as well as alternative monitoring systems that capture the complexity of slippage more fully. Download the paper in English or French on wsscc.org.

A new publication explores the conversations, reflections and lessons emerging from a multi-stakeholder Global Sanitation Fund learning event earlier this year. Themes include: incorporating effective approaches for scale, decentralized programme delivery and sustainability; ensuring a truly inclusive approach that leaves no one behind; and addressing monitoring and evaluation challenges. Download the paper in English or French on wsscc.org.

Dear friends and colleagues,

A new report shows that the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) has supported governments and partners in 13 countries to advance sanitation and hygiene in targeted communities, through collective behaviour change programmes. The report:

• Presents results achieved by GSF-supported country programmes and the Fund as a whole up to 31 December 2015, and explains the processes and challenges related to monitoring and verifying these results
• Explains how the GSF works
• Explores themes and aspects relevant to the GSF and the wider WASH sector, including: learning and innovation; sustainability; equality and non-discrimination; and how the GSF aims to contribute to universal coverage as envisioned in national strategies and Sustainable Development Goal 6.2
• Highlights the progress, challenges, dynamism and unique characteristics of each GSF-supported programme
• Presents the human aspect of the GSF – the diverse people, partners and champions that are central to the Fund’s impact

Read the news article or download the full report .

Kind regards,
Okechukwu Umelo
Media and Communications Officer, WSSCC/GSF

Dear Mr. Mughal,

Many thanks for providing an overview of and feedback on the Huffington Post article authored by our Executive Director and Christian Holmes from USAID. As mentioned in a previous post we do not currently work in Pakistan, but we are considering opportunities for engagement, to help improve the sanitation scenario together with national and international partners.

Dear Arno and David,

Thanks for your enquiries and interest. Processes for monitoring and verifying the results of GSF-supported programmes vary across the 13 countries we work in, but all programmes generally include the following aspects:
The results we publish are based on reports submitted to the GSF by Executing Agencies (EAs), based on information received from Sub-grantees (typically local government bodies and NGOs). Sub-grantees perform regular monitoring and verification of all communities that self-declare their ODF status, and EAs monitor a certain sample of the communities reported as ODF by the Sub-grantees. In addition different countries have different national/civil society monitoring and verification protocols with which the GSF programmes align themselves. EAs report to the GSF every six months according to country-specific monitoring and verification systems and standards. Additionally, EAs and GSF-contracted Country Programme Monitors carry out periodic spot checks in communities, as per agreed regular monitoring procedures. Independent outcome surveys and mid-term evaluations are also carried out for these country programmes.

While we track many more indicators, our progress reports habitually publish figures on the number of targeted communities that have been ‘triggered’ to carry out CLTS; the number of communities declared and verified to be ODF and the number of people living in these communities,as well as the number of improved toilets that have been improved or built in/by communities in the course of the programme interventions that meet pre-determined national or programme criteria. Our data is not directly corroborated by the JMP, but together with other programmes and initiatives within the WASH sector, our programmes essentially contribute to the JMP’s reported results.

The GSF recognizes the importance of data reliability and the challenges associated with the monitoring of sanitation and hygiene behaviour change programmes at large scale. We are therefore continuously looking for ways to improve our monitoring and evaluation systems, including the development of independent results verification methodologies based on statistical methodologies, as well as ensuring alignment with as well as providing support to national monitoring systems. You will appreciate that sanitation and hygiene behaviours are not static and communities' ODF or improved sanitation status may change over time. As programmes such as GSF's are not directly able to monitor each and every community over extended periods of time (i.e thousands of villages), we are also investing heavily in strengthening local governance mechanisms that will have to take ultimate responsibility for continued follow-up and monitoring.

More information on our results can be found on page 4 of the 2014 GSF Progress Report, see: wsscc.org/resources-feed/global-sanitati...gress-report-2014-3/

We will also provide more details on the process in our upcoming Progress Report to be released in April 2016.


Best regards,
Carolien