Going to scale with community-led total sanitation : reflections on experience, issues and ways forward

The purpose of this paper is to review experience with Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) and to explore options and ways forward for the future. CLTS is a revolutionary approach in which communities are facilitated to conduct their own appraisal and analysis of open defecation and take their own action to become open defecation-free. The paper includes the developments in six of the countries where CLTS has been spread: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Kenya. It lists ten practical elements in strategies for going to scale that have been found effective as well as the obstacles and threats. The paper discusses diversity, definition and principles; synergies with complementary approaches; scale, speed and quality; creative diversity; and physical, social and policy sustainability as issues for reflection and research. For the future methodological development and action learning; creative innovation and critical awareness; learning and action alliances and networks, with fast learning across communities, districts and countries; and seeking to seed self-spreading or light touch movements are four key themes of thrusts. Key to good spread is finding, supporting and multiplying champions, at all levels, and then their vision, commitment and courage.