Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

CATS +2 Meeting

November 2-5, 2010

© UNICEF NYHQ/2010-Dooley

Bisi Agberemi of UNICEF Nigeria, Lizette Burgers of UNICEF India, and Nicolas Osbert of UNICEF Mali discuss the next steps in scaling up CATS programming.

CATS +2: A UNICEF Global Sanitation Meeting was called in November to discuss emerging issues in the implementation of Community Approaches to Total Sanitation (CATS).  Nearly 50 UNICEF offices are involved in CATS programming, and the pace, the success, the challenges and innovations in promoting improved sanitation have varied across these countries.

The discussion at CATS +2 revolved around a few key questions:

• How does our principles-based approach support sustained sanitation?
• How to promote and support sustained use of household latrines?
• How to support households in "moving up the sanitation ladder?"
• How to ensure equity for the poorest quintiles?
• What is UNICEF's role in supporting sustained sanitation?

© UNICEF NYHQ/2010-Dooley

Hilda Winarta of UNICEF Cambodia, Prakash Lamsal of UNICEF Uganda, and Giveson Zulu of UNICEF Zambia working to develop a "WildWildWild" idea.

The objectives of the meeting were twofold: first, to convene UNICEF and external sanitation practitioners for exchange of best practice and second, to continue the dialogue on global approaches to sanitation, with a particular focus on approaches to move beyond triggering and to sustain behaviour change, specifically, through sanitation marketing.

Over the course of four days, participants reviewed current progress on CATS since the 2008 meeting, discussing common challenges and opportunities.  The meeting then transitioned to extensive discussions on sanitation marketing and its relation to UNICEF.

© UNICEF NYHQ/2010-Dooley

Sophie Hickling of UNICEF ESARO, Dara Johnston of UNICEF Myanmar, Hans Spruijt of UNICEF Bangladesh, and Evariste Komlan of UNICEF Madagascar discuss equity in the CATS approach to sanitation.

Regions were also afforded a chance to collaborate on issues of common concern and to think of regional vehicles for enhanced dialogue and action.  Asian countries discussed the development of a regional community of practice to look at social norms and the possibility of a regional training session.  African countries discussed a similar community of practice and ways to further enhance the institutionalization of the CATS principles as a vehicle for promotion harmonized approaches and a solid platform for introducing sanitation marketing concepts.

Several key ideas and action points came out of this meeting.  You will find the meeting summary and presentations that took place in the modules on the right.

© UNICEF NYHQ/2010-Dooley

Jane Bevan of UNICEF WCARO, Kabuka Banda of UNICEF Ghana, and Murat Sahin of UNICEF Headquarters ponder UNICEF's role in sanitation marketing.

Background Reading

Sorting through the studies, reports, and literature on strategies for sustainable, effective sanitation programs can be a tedious task. The following is a list of ten articles suggested to CATS +2 participants to read if they were to read only ten articles before the meeting.  These articles were chosen to reflect the overall theme of the meeting and to provide participants with a common background for discussion.  The first document is an annotated bibliography of the suggested readings.

Annotated Bibliography of Suggested CATS Literature [PDF]

1. The Case for Marketing Sanitation [PDF] | Sandy Cairncross, 2004
2. Who Buys Latrines, Where and Why? [PDF] | Mimi Jenkins, 2004
3. Creating demand for sanitation and hygiene through Community Health Clubs: A cost-effective intervention in two districts in Zimbabwe [PDF] | Juliet Waterkeyn and Sandy Cairncross, 2005
4. Behavioral indicators of household decision-making and demand for sanitation and potential gains from social marketing in Ghana [PDF] | Marion Jenkins and Beth Scott, 2007
5. Opportunities for Sanitation Marketing in Uganda [PDF] | Tom Outlaw, Mimi Jenkins, and Beth Scott, 2007
6. Introducing SaniFOAM: A Framework to Analyze Sanitation Behaviors to Design Effective Sanitation Programs [PDF] | Jacqueline Devine, 2009
7. Output-Based Aid for Sustainable Sanitation [PDF] | Sophie Tremolet and Barbara Evans with inputs from Davide Schaub-Jones, 2010
8. The Road to Total Sanitation: Notes from a field trip and workshop on scaling up Africa [PDF] | Inputs fr Sophie Hickling, Milly Akwi, Yolanda Coombes, Robyn Wilmouth, Atnafe Beyene, Archana Patkar, and Amanda Marlin 2010
9. Sanitation Marketing in a CATS Context [PDF] | Ann Thomas 2010
10. Case Study on Sustainability of Rural Sanitation Marketing in Vietnam [PDF] | Christine Sijbesma, Truong Xuan Truong, and Jacqueline Devine 2010

© UNICEF NYHQ/2010-Dooley

Participants of the CATS +2 Meeting represented five regions.