Community Monitoring for Improved Programming and Sustainable Results: Abstract

"Under this approach the capacity of Village Health Teams (VHT’s) in Uganda and Community Volunteers in Bangladesh was strengthened to conduct regular household monitoring visits and track progress in the field of hygiene and sanitation behavior (handwashing and latrine construction and use)."

The focus of this Simavi presentation for the International SBCC Summit 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 8-10, is on hygiene and sanitation in Bangladesh and Uganda.

From the abstract:
"Simavi and its partners used community-based monitoring (CBM) approach to enhance a sustainable change in hygiene and sanitation behavior under our WASH Alliance program in respectively 1 and 5 villages in Hakibale and Kicwamba sub-county in Kabarole District in Uganda and in 5 villages in Tala Upazila in Bangladesh. Under this approach the capacity of Village Health Teams (VHT’s) in Uganda and Community Volunteers in Bangladesh was strengthened to conduct regular household monitoring visits and track progress in the field of hygiene and sanitation behavior (handwashing and latrine construction and use). The approach complemented other community based WASH interventions (i.e. WASH budget tracking, CLTS, Sanitation Marketing, Hygiene Promotion, formation and strengthening of WASH community structures).

Key Highlights:
• The data gathered through CBM was considered to be much closer to reality then the data collected by the NGOs, which allowed for a much better indication of the success of the behavior change approaches and for a grounded adjustment of the interventions.

• Undertaking CBM instilled a positive attitude in the volunteers (up from 30 percent to 70 percent on effectiveness ladder). They felt appreciated by NGO’s, were more motivated to stimulate their fellow community members to adopt improved sanitation and hygiene behavior and increased their own articulation on WASH issues.

• Analyzed data showed increasing trends in coverage and use of latrines and in practicing handwashing, which was attributed to the increased volunteers efforts."