Impact of Open Defecation Free (ODF) Campaign - a case study of Ranipani VDC,
Parbat/Nepal
By
Ganga Datta Nepal
WASH Technical Officer
WHO-DWSS WASH Program/Nepal
(Email: nepal_ganga@yahoo.com)
About 62 per cent people in Nepal have access to toilet. So we are moving ahead to improve this
situation to meet the national target of sanitation for all by 2017. Towards the achieving this goal;
Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is an innovative way to achieve communities free from open
defecation. It changes people’s behaviour by shifting mindsets – to focus their desire for, and triggering
them to build a sanitation system themselves. It is a community-driven approach to improve sanitation
behavior among the community peoples in developing countries; CLTS represents a strategic shift in
focus from creating awareness to community people for the toilet construction for individual
households to one that seeks to create ODF communities/ villages through behavioral changes in the
entire community. The change happens as communities learn that everyone in the village is negatively
affected by the unsanitary practices of some. “CLTS is a simple but effective strategy to empower
communities in taking a decisive step towards achieving something on their own to be proud of. It
motivates communities to take collective action in partnership with local governments, development
organizations, and civil society organizations.
This approach promotes 100% open defecation free communities to minimize the risk of contamination
for all, breaking the cycle of faecal-oral contamination. Contrary to most conventional sanitation
approaches which aim simply at providing toilets, CLTS aims to promote collective behavior change as
the key to sustainable and improved sanitation. The process of CLTS is starting through a Lead Total
Behavior Change Facilitators (L-TBCF) and Total Behavior Change (TBC) Triggerer; communities conduct
their own appraisal and analysis of their sanitation situation and take action to become open defecation
free. During the process, the facilitators brings attention to sanitation related topics, provides facts (e.g.
faecal-oral hazards can only be reduced if open defecation is completely banned from the community as
a whole), and provokes a discussion about open defecation and the feelings of disgust and shame
associated with it. CLTS has proven effective in various settings and contexts, enabling communities to
set their own goals and fulfill them with minimal (external) financial inputs. In some settings,
communities have extended CLTS beyond latrine construction to that of hand washing stations. Of
course, coverage is not always total: certain members of the community never reach the target or fall
back into practicing open defecation. Other issues presenting challenges are scaling up the approach
and the issue of exclusion or punishment of community members who do not (or cannot) comply with
self imposed restrictions.
Ranipani VDC lies in the southern part of Parbat district of western Nepal, this VDC is being selected for
the program VDC of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project Western Nepal (RWSSPWN) funded by
Government of Nepal & Finland, VDC is one of the water supply hardship area. It has not excess of water
sources; so people are facing numerous problems for the fetching of drinking water. RWSSPWN is come
with the modality of total sanitation and quality water supply for the community people. In the aspect,
the total behavioral change process in hygiene and sanitation started from the very beginning from the
VDC level Triggerer's Training. All party orientation and advocacy meeting were held for the orientation
on WASH at district level than after VDC level. This meeting serves as a start for district level ignition
process in the behavioral change. As a result of the meeting, decision makers were fully aware on the
importance of WASH in general and total behavioral change in hygiene and sanitation in particular.
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In addition, another important step of the ignition to district and VDC level was the Multi-Stakeholder
Forum (MSF) with all WASH stakeholders. As a result of MSF, there is district and VDC wise commitment
and coordination agreed upon, and common goals have been established for the implementation of
WASH. This orientation to the district and VDC level stakeholders motivated them to implement
Community Led Total Behaviors Change in Hygiene and Sanitation (CLTS); where VDC should be part of
the MSF. This approach is an innovative methodology for mobilizing communities to completely
eliminate open defecation (OD). Communities are facilitated to conduct their own appraisal and analysis
of open defecation (OD) and take their own action to become ODF (open defecation free). It focuses on
the behavioral change needed to ensure real and sustainable improvements – investing in community
mobilization instead of hardware, and shifting the focus from toilet construction for individual
households to the creation of “open defecation-free” villages. By raising awareness that as long as even
a minority continues to defecate in the open everyone is at risk of disease, CLTS triggers the
community’s desire for change, propels them into action and encourages innovation, mutual support
and appropriate local solutions, thus leading to greater ownership and sustainability.
Picture: ODF Declaration Ceremony at Ranipani VDC, Parbat
Source: Nepal (June 2010)
In addition to creating a culture of good sanitation, CLTS can also be an effective point for other
livelihoods activities. It mobilizes community members towards collective action and empowers them to
take further action in the future. Actual process of total behavioral change starts from rapport building.
It is the first step for ODF declaration. In rapport building the actual ownership to Community Led
process is created. Immersion with community, understanding the situation and community values
before actual intervention help in building trust and mutual understanding between the community and
facilitators (trained TBC triggers). During the rapport building, different local words for "shit" and
"shitting" should be sought out for using during the triggering process. Rapport building aims in
accessing actual situation and perspective of community as well as different aspects associated with
hygiene and sanitation making the facilitation process easier.
Picture: Clean activities being started at VDC level
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Informal discussion with the community people at
the tea stall, community gathering, random HH visits
carried out during the rapport building process. At
the end of the rapport building the date for the next
meeting will be agreed. Make sure the date and
time is fixed so that whole community can
participate. Make sure that none is left outside. For
Source: Nepal (June 20110)
It is fact that there is direct relationship exists between
water, sanitation and health. Consumption of unsafe drinking water, improper disposal of human
excreta and lack of personal and food hygiene have been the major causes of many diseases in the
community. High infant mortality rate are also attribute largely to poor sanitation. It is the context in
rural community; so CLTS come to action with objective of improving the quality of life of the rural
people and to provide privacy and dignity to women. After the long social awareness building and
triggering process; Ranipani VDC was ready for ODF; declared on 8th of June 2010 with a huge program
organized by VDC as first ODF-VDC in Parbat district. Now Parbat district has been declared ODF district.
No. of Patients in Helath post
Patients in Health Post
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Dirrahea
249
330
265
188
151
Dysentry
362
228
192
165
134
Typhoid
356
418
385
236
121
Source: Ranipani VDC Health Post, Ranipani-Parbat (Dec.2014)
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After the ODF declaration,
major Behavior Change
activities were started
within community; VDC is
cleaned and people are
conscious on household
wastes and point of use of
use of water. As the
information from local
Health Post Office, patients
of Diarrhea, Dysentery and
Typhoid
has
been
significantly reduced from
this year. Above shows the
comparison of no. of
patients in different years;
it also shows the reducing
trends
of
Diarrhea,
Dysentery and Typhoid
patients in Ranipani VDC
after the declaration of ODF
and heading towards Total
Behaviors Change (TBC)
VDC.