Summary

Less than 11% of the population in Madagascar has access to adequate sanitation facilities. Open defecation is widespread, leading to contamination of food and water sources and, when combined with poor hygiene practices, results in extreme levels of diarrhoeal illnesses. As many as 1 in 3 children die before their 5th birthday from such easily preventable diseases, and a lack of state-provided sanitation infrastructure compounds an already dire health situation.

Project Malio is working with 40,000 people across the urban commune of Fort Dauphin to eliminate the practice of open defecation by mobilising the community through a broad scale sanitation behaviour change programme. Azafady has developed this exciting project by drawing on the experience of running a sexual behaviour change programme – Project Mampisaina – that encourages young people to adopt safer sexual practices through high profile awareness raising activities which break down traditional taboos around the discussion of sexual health, and combining this with motivational methodologies adapted from the CLTS – ‘Community-Led Total Sanitation’ – approach.

Project Malio encompasses open defecation mapping, community focus groups and action planning, school workshops, radio broadcasts, travelling theatre sketches, beach clean up activities, carnival parades and mass mobilisation events in a dynamic and participatory multimedia campaign that aims to eliminate the practice of open defecation through hygiene promotion and the creation of local demand for better sanitation. Over 1,000 of the poorest households are being provided with access to hygienic sanitation infrastructure (latrines) as part of this project.

Project Aim

To reduce the practice of open defecation and facilitate sustained behaviour change with regards to latrine use and improved hygienic practices in the urban commune of Fort Dauphin.

Objectives

1. Communities are motivated to eliminate the practice of open defecation through participatory awareness raising activities – focus groups and action planning, school workshops, mass mobilisation events – held across Fort Dauphin.

2. Communities adopt and sustain improved health practices as facilitated through the construction of hygienic sanitation infrastructure given identified need.

Principal activities

Awareness raising and community motivation

Focus groups are being held across the 11 districts of Fort Dauphin, with communities supported to formulate and operate their own action plans to eliminate the practice of open defecation, and public notice boards displaying defecation maps that are regularly updated to monitor progress towards becoming open defecation free. Educational workshops, puppet shows, and poster design competitions are being held in schools across Fort Dauphin to engage children in community efforts to promote improved hygienic practices. Azafady is also working with students from the town's high schools, members of the local scouts and other associations (including women's associations and sports associations) to train small groups of people as travelling theatre artists who devise and perform their own interactive role plays that follow a family through the actions and consequences of the health choices they make. These sketches are performed at mass mobilisation events in the community, along with sports competitions and participatory educational activities. Carnival parades are organised as part of national celebrations held each year for hand washing, clean water and latrine use in order to break down traditional taboos around the subject of poor hygiene and encourage a culture of communication around the subject of open defecation.

Provision of hygienic sanitation infrastructure to facilitate sustained behaviour change 
Azafady is working alongside the UNFPA to ensure that all of the public schools across Fort Dauphin have adequate and hygienic sanitation infrastructure. Over 1,000 of the poorest households (more than 15,000 people) are also being provided with latrines in order to facilitate sustained behaviour change, with Azafady's community agents conducting household visits in order to provide ongoing support and motivation with regards to continued latrine use. Azafady is also working with the communities of Ampototra and Amparihy to ensure that their communal latrines are operational and effective sustainability mechanisms are in place to ensure their ongoing maintenance.