A sanitation community, particularly in the context of approaches like Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), refers to an entire group of people living together in a geographical area (often rural) targeted for collective behavior change regarding sanitation practices.
The core idea behind focusing on a sanitation community is to address hygiene and sanitation issues, most notably open defecation, not just at an individual household level but as a shared responsibility and challenge for everyone living within that community.
The Role of the Community in Sanitation Initiatives
Based on the principles of approaches like Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), the community itself is the primary agent of change.
- Focus on the Group: The strategy focuses on spontaneous and long-lasting behaviour change of an entire community. This means the effort is on the collective abandoning of unhealthy practices like open defecation, rather than providing individual subsidies for toilets.
- Triggering Process: The process often begins with "triggering." This involves community members collectively analyzing their own sanitation situation, often through facilitated exercises, to understand the health risks associated with open defecation.
- Spontaneous Action: The goal is for the community to feel the impact and shame of open defecation collectively, leading to a spontaneous decision to stop the practice and build their own sanitation facilities (e.g., latrines).
- Long-Term Change: By fostering collective action and mutual monitoring, the aim is to achieve long-term abandonment of open defecation practices by the entire community, leading to an "Open Defecation Free" (ODF) status.
Why Focus on the Entire Community?
Addressing sanitation at the community level is crucial because:
- Shared Health Risks: Feces from one household practicing open defecation can affect the health of the entire community through contaminated water sources or food.
- Collective Norms: Sanitation is often tied to social norms and practices. Changing these norms requires collective agreement and action.
- Mutual Support and Monitoring: Community members can support each other in building latrines and monitor progress towards becoming Open Defecation Free.
In essence, a sanitation community is the collective unit where sanitation challenges are shared, discussed, and addressed through participatory processes to achieve widespread and sustainable behavior change.
