Monitoring Sanitation Campaigns: Targets, Reporting and Realism

Abstract

Many governments in Asia and Africa have set ambitious target dates for their countries becoming open defecation free (ODF). Some have recently concluded national sanitation campaigns; a number of countries have campaigns underway; while others are in the conceptualising and planning process. Monitoring and reporting results is one of the key challenges associated with these campaigns. This Frontiers of Sanitation presents lessons learnt to date to inform ongoing and future government campaigns intended to end open defecation and improve access to safely managed sanitation. Firstly, we discuss campaigns, targets, monitoring, reporting, and verification arrangements, showing how these processes can be used to increase the credibility of national declarations and strengthen campaigns to respond to challenges. Secondly, we present case studies from India and Nepal, providing campaign-specific details from two recently declared ODF countries.