Improving overall sanitation situation of the project areas is a major challenge. While the other benefits from HYSAWA come to beneficiaries almost free of cost, this is one sector that actually requires people to invest their own money for change. And when it comes to spending money for something seemingly trivial as a latrine, people are more than reluctant. In most areas of intervention, we have often heard one same dialogue, “why do I need to spend so much for defecation when I can defecate for free wherever I want?”.
Unlike water supply, sanitation solely revolves around motivation. The COs under HYSAWA regularly visits their respective work areas to conduct sessions on hygiene promotion and benefits of sanitary latrine. A combination of BCC materials, one-to-one consultancy, courtyard sessions, peer pressure and to some extend invoking shame & disgust helps achieve HYSAWA’s goals.
Till date, HYSAWA has mobilised 1.5 million hygienic latrines at household level.
Another aspect of Sanitation improvement under HYSAWA programme is renovation or construction of institutional latrines. With Government Primary schools being the key target, latrines are build with running water, so that school children can practice all the hygiene habits. Additionally, institutional latrines are built for Girls’ high schools, co-ed madrasas, market places, mosques etc. Latrines at public level are leased to the local authority to ensure maintenance. The institutions are required to share 10%-20% of infrastructure cost which is often taken from school’s fund.
Until 2014, HYSAWA has financed 3376 Public/Institutional latrines which were either newly built or renovated from the existing structure.
