Measurable progress has been made in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), with substantial reductions in open defecation throughout the region. Against the target of achieving 120 million fewer open defecators for the period 2014-2017, there were 132 million fewer open defecators in the region (50 million of them directly supported by UNICEF) by the end of 2017. We are seeing tremendous increases each year: in 2017 alone UNICEF directly supported over 32 million people to live in communities certified to be open-defecation-free (compared to just under 2 million in 2014).
Forecasts for levels of open defecation suggest an increase in line with population growth followed by significant reductions.
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15. How many communities have been "triggered" through CATS/CLTS programmes in the reporting year only as a result of UNICEF direct support? |
16. How many communities have been certified free of open defecation in the reporting year only, as a result of UNICEF direct support? |
17. What is the total population of the communities that have been certified free of open defecation in the reporting year only, as a result of UNICEF direct support? |
| 2017 |
48,901 |
24,714 |
32,195,923 |
| 2016 |
24,404 |
9,865 |
10,249,072 |
| 2015 |
8228 |
3394 |
4,824,899 |
| 2014 |
2,619 |
2,124 |
1,967,244 |
Forecast net reduction in open defecation, South Asia
South Asia witnessed a sanitation revolution throughout the region during the period 2014-2017. Initiatives such as the South Asia Conferences on Sanitation (SACOSAN), inspiring advocacy campaigns and political commitment have helped create momentum towards a South Asia where sanitation is for all and open defecation is no longer practised.
The past decade (particularly the past five years) have seen the greatest increase in the use of toilets than in any other time in this region's history: over 240 million additional people now use toilets and have abandoned open defecation. Sanitation is high on the political agenda throughout the region and the sanitation revolution is blossoming across the continent. We see it clearly in Pakistan where over 11 million people have already been reached; the first open-defecation-free (ODF) district will shortly be declared in Bhawalpur.
We see it too in Afghanistan where the first open-defecation-free district in Nili (Daikundi province) has just been declared and where seven more are on their way. In India, the Swachh Bharat Mission (led by the Prime Minister) is changing lives throughout the country and the daily rates of toilet construction and use are enormous.
Map showing forecast prevalence of open defecation in rural areas by end 2017, South Asia
Indian government committed to end open defecation
The Indian government has committed to ending open defecation by 2019, the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's birth. In October 2014, it launched a fully funded national hygiene, sanitation and waste management campaign called Swachh Bharat Mission. The campaign aims to transform rural India through community and people-centred strategies that emphasize holistic sanitation approaches. Sikkim and Kerala are mostly free of open defecation, and Himachal Pradesh is making progress through innovative community mobilization. The campaign is already showing results: Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, large states with high levels of open defecation, are making notable progress.
Pakistan's approach to total sanitation
Pakistan achieved its Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target for sanitation in 2015, five years after the Pakistan Approach to Total Sanitation (PATS) was launched, following massive floods in 2010. Since then, more than 10 million people have eliminated open defecation in their communities, including 6.5 million as a direct result of UNICEF support. In 2015 alone, UNICEF support ensured that more than 1.3 million people were certified as living in open-defecation-free environments and 1.7 million people received hygiene-related information on preventing childhood illness, especially diarrhoea. In Pakistan, 64 per cent of the population is now using improved sanitation facilities. PATS has created demand for toilets, facilitating supply-side options and enabling duty-bearers to take more responsibility. PATS is used by all sanitation sector stakeholders and has spurred government to commit to ending open defecation by 2025, taking on the challenge of the ambitious SDG 6.2 sanitation target. PATS programmes increasingly focus on equity, the creation of a sustainable social norm for 'no open defecation' and universal use of hygienic toilets. Pakistan has now reached a tipping point, and the use of toilets is fast becoming the new norm.
Nepal's Sanitation Social Movement
In Nepal, open defecation in rural areas fell from 93 per cent in 1990 to 37 per cent in 2015: a remarkable improvement. In 2011, Kaski became the first district to be declared open-defecation-free: 47 of Nepal's 75 districts achieved this status by the end of 2017. Success is due to a change in tactics, from subsidizing toilet construction towards the 'reward and recognition' approach set out in Nepal's 2011 national sanitation and hygiene master plan. A wide range of stakeholders are fully engaged: local bodies, government officials, political parties, civil society, mothers' groups, forest user groups, child clubs and others collaborate to reduce open defecation in their communities. The elimination of open defecation has thus become a social movement rather than a programme or a project. Most remarkably, while open defecation use to be most common among the poorest, the recent Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS 2014) showed little difference in sanitation coverage between the poorest and richest quintiles of the population - evidence of an effective social movement.
In communities where open defecation is widespread, residents are more likely to have lower education, belong to disadvantaged minority groups, have more children, have lower access to social services and live further from markets and other services. People who defecate in the open generally walk further to get drinking water and are more likely to rely on unimproved drinking water sources; they are also less likely to use soap when washing their hands.
For five countries in the region the open defecation atlas contains equity trees (down to district level). We can also stratify according to education levels, ethnicity, religion, etc.
Afghanistan Open Defecation Equity Tree (forecast end of 2016)
The SDG target 6.2 'By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all, and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations' specifically aims to end the practice of open defecation. As the national governments of all countries in South Asia have adopted the SDGs, it is expected that the reduction of open defecation practices will accelerate in the coming years.
