Open Defecation Free (ODF) Campaign and Behavior Change Communication (BCC)
Nucleus for Empowerment through Skill Transfer (NEST), jointly with its local partners Environment and Children Development Centre (ECDC) and Community Power (CP), has been implementing the ODF campaign in Rautahat with funding and technical support from GSF/UN Habitat since April 2014. A total of 14 Village Development Committees (VDCs) have been declared ODF till July 2017.
There are six major components set under the project, which include Sector Coordination and Planning, School Level Development, ODF Campaign, Conduct Monitoring of the Project Activities and Outcomes, Documentation and Dissemination, and Reporting.
The main objective of the campaign/programme is to support and facilitate the district-level WASH Coordination Committee (D-WASH-CC) to plan, manage, implement, and monitor the sanitation campaign for achieving the target of district ODF in Rautahat. The campaign has triggered hygiene behavior change among local people, along with capacity building of local authorities for planning and management of sanitation facilities.
As a major achievement during the period, a total of 10,580 toilets were constructed — reaching sanitation access up to 79% (8 VDCs were declared ODF), which resulted in approximately 63,475 (48% female) people living under the ODF environment. The total households in target areas were 30,573.
Rautahat is one of those Terai/plain districts where most of its people lack access to safe water and proper sanitation facilities. According to the baseline survey of 2014, only 86% of people have access to safe drinking water, and 26% have access to sanitation in NEST project VDCs. As a result of the lack of access to these basic human needs, many people are suffering from water and sanitation-related diseases and die every day.
To minimize and alleviate these problems, the D-WASH-CC Rautahat has committed and is working towards achieving 100% proper sanitation by the end of June 2017.
Major Achievement
- Total Households: 30,573
- Baseline Toilets: 4,162 (13%)
- Total Toilets Reached: 20,830 (79%)
- Total People under ODF Environment: 118,877
- Total ODF VDCs: 14
Open Defecation Free (ODF) Campaign and Behavior Promotion in Sanitation and Hygiene in Rautahat District
Rautahat is one of the Terai/plain districts where most people lack access to safe water and proper sanitation facilities. According to recent official figures, only 86% of people have access to safe drinking water, and just 26% have access to sanitation. Due to this lack of access to basic human needs, many people suffer from water and sanitation-related diseases, with lives lost every day.
To minimize and alleviate these problems, the D-WASH-CC Rautahat has committed itself to achieving 100% proper sanitation by December 2015. NEST, with technical support from GSF/UN-Habitat, is facilitating the ODF Campaign and Sanitation and Hygiene Behavior Promotion in 30 VDCs of Rautahat district. The tenure of this programme is 18 months, starting from April 2014. The Environmental and Child Development Centre (ECDC) is the local partner for this campaign in Rautahat.
As a major achievement, six VDCs were declared ODF. The following figures show the major achievements through programme implementation in Rautahat, jointly with the support of GSF/UN-Habitat:
Sanitation Status Before NEST:
- Number of ODF Declared: 0
- Sanitation Coverage: 13%
- Number of Toilets: 4,100
- Sanitation Resource Center at District: No
- People/Households Living Under ODF Environment: 0
Sanitation Status After NEST:
- Number of ODF Declared: 6
- Sanitation Coverage: 55%
- Number of Toilets: 11,412
- Sanitation Resource Center at District: Yes
- People/Households Living Under ODF Environment: 37,149 / 4,259
The total program budget agreed between GSF/UN-Habitat and its sub-grantee for implementation of the Open Defecation Free Campaign and Sanitation and Hygiene Behavior Promotion program in Rautahat is NPR 1,94,43,900 (USD 206,850.00) for the program period from April 2014 to December 2015, plus a 3-month no-cost extension from January to April 2016.
Open Defecation Free Campaign and sanitation and Hygiene Behavior promotion in Arghakhanchi District
NEST has capitalized on its WASH sector experiences and the learnings from the Open Defecation Free (ODF) campaign of Kaski district and developed a proposal for GSF/UN-Habitat. NEST’s proposal was selected, and it recently signed a contract agreement with GSF/UN-Habitat for implementing the ODF Campaign and Sanitation and Hygiene Behavior Promotion in Arghakhanchi (See Box 3).
The project is funded by GSF/UN-Habitat, with some part of the local contribution made by NEST and its local partner SSIC to implement the project activities through a partnership approach.
The overall goal of the ODF campaign is to help people access and use improved sanitation facilities and promote hygiene behavior. This is aimed at reducing the prevalence of diarrheal diseases and improving health conditions through capacity building, mass sensitization, community mobilization, and institutional development.
The objectives of the ODF Campaign and Sanitation and Hygiene Behavior Promotion are:
- To trigger people and create awareness for proper hygiene and sanitation behavior;
- To strengthen institutional arrangements for ensuring collaboration, building local capacity and ownership, and sustaining sanitation interventions;
- To empower communities to construct and use improved sanitation facilities and achieve ODF status with proper consideration of gender and social inclusion;
- To facilitate easy access to materials for constructing toilets through strengthening the local supply.
In addition, NEST is also a member of the Regional Water Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Committee (R-WASH-CC) of the Western Development Region. It has been sharing and exchanging knowledge and experiences for the promotion of the sanitation and hygiene sector.