Diorano-WASH

Overall, the Diorano-WASH campaign focuses on three key messages:

• the importance of washing hands with soap;
• effective use of latrines; and
• safeguarding the water supply between source and point of use.

The following programmes and projects have been carried out to date:

Sanitation in my Neighbourhood
Schools were identified as ideal places for sanitation education, mainly because children are generally not so fixed on their hygiene habits and are more open to change than adults. According to the organisation, it has also been proven that children will take the messages learned at school and share them with their families and communities. With this in mind, the "Sanitation in my Neighbourhood" project was implemented from 2004-2005. It aimed to highlight children's views on sanitation problems and solutions and was based around a photo competition for school children. Each student was given a preparation pack that included a disposable camera. A professional photographer demonstrated techniques for taking photographs, and children were then asked to take photographs of sanitation issues in their homes and neighbourhoods. Out of the submitted photographs, an exhibition including the best 100 photographs was displayed in the national library on World Water Day 2005.

WASH Schools programme
To provide a more structured way of working with schools, Diorano-WASH developed the "WASH Schools programme" (Ecoles Amies de Diorano-WASH), which was given an official shape in 2007. Under this programme, a School WASH Committee is established in each school, with representation from the local tier of government, the Parents-Teachers Association, the school Director, the students, local dignitaries, and civil society. The School WASH Committee is tasked with promoting the application of the three key WASH messages, assisting the school in obtaining safe water and sanitation infrastructure, ensuring proper management of the infrastructure, and maintaining relations with the local WASH committee. The creation of a School WASH Committee is guided by a local by-law, and only schools that have gone through the full process can call themselves "WASH Schools".

WASH Community Health Centre programme
Following the implementation of the WASH Schools programme, Diorano-WASH set up a similar programme for "Community Health Centres" (CHCs). A CHC is a WASH Community Health Centre when it carries out and promotes the three key WASH messages focusing on Health Centre staff, as well as its visitors and the wider community. According to the organisers, CHCs have an important educational function in the wider community and are a place of reference for the demonstration, practice, and promotion of water, sanitation, and hygiene messages.

National Sanitation Education Campaign
This campaign, also built around the three key WASH messages, was launched in April 2007 by the Minister of Health, Family Planning and Social Protection. In the first year of this campaign, each of the three messages was the subject of attention for a four-month period. The campaign rests on four pillars: advocacy, capacity strengthening, behaviour change at the community level, and monitoring and evaluation. Involving all major sector actors, the campaign covers all 22 regions of Madagascar, and is planned to continue until 2012.

"Use a Latrine? Convince me!"
This project, which took place in 2007, asked youth between 15 and 25 to come up with sketches for stage or radio to convince people in their communities of the need to use latrines. This strategy reflected the belief that, because they know the people in their own communities, the young people would also know how they could best be convinced to change their behaviour. In order to ensure that not only those enrolled in school would get a chance to participate, youth were invited to join the project through radio announcements and via local religious groups. There were three categories in which sketches were to be devised:

1. convincing an elderly person to use a latrine
2. convincing a person of your own age to use a latrine
3. convincing a child to use a latrine

The competition was organised locally in seven regions of Madagascar, and in each region all sketches were judged, and filmed or recorded. The best three sketches of each region were announced and awarded on November 19 2007, World Toilet Day, in regional events that included a number of WASH promotion activities. A film of the event and the sketches was produced in each region, and a national compilation film and a short film were broadcast on national television. According to the organisers, the project has also had a longer-term effect, as many of the youth who came together to develop and perform the sketches have committed to continue to play their sketches and promote the WASH messages.

Sanitation, Health, Natural Resource Management.

According to Diorano-WASH, throughout Madagascar only 38% of the population has access to safe water (rising to 50% in 2009) and only 52% of houses are equipped with latrines. In 2005, only 2% of the rural and 17% of the urban population had access to adequate sanitation (rising to 49% and 62% respectively in 2009). Lack of sanitation and poor hygiene are responsible for much of the illness in Malagasy children, and diarrhoea has been identified as the second highest cause of death among children in Madagascar. In 2005, an estimated 3.5 million school days were lost in Madagascar due to diarrhoea and other illnesses linked to poor sanitation. This absenteeism contributes to the high Malagasy school dropout rate, with six out of ten children never finishing primary school.

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is an international sector organisation that has worked since 1990 to achieve sustainable water supply and sanitation across the globe by enhancing collaboration among sector agencies and professionals. As part of its Networking and Knowledge Management and Advocacy programmes, WSSCC encourages the development of national WASH Coalitions. The role of the WASH Coalitions ranges from participating in information sharing to advocating specific policy changes. Despite the variety of activities in which they participate, the WASH Coalitions have in common a commitment to addressing the need for improved systematic communication, collaboration, and joint action among sector stakeholders in their countries of operation. Most national WASH Coalitions have developed and launched WASH Campaigns as a vehicle for advocacy and awareness-raising.