Taking rural sanitation and hygiene to scale in Nigeria

Access to sanitation in rural communities in Nigeria is very low (28%). Little public attention or government funding, non-inclusion of sanitation and hygiene in programmes financed by governments, weak political commitment and poor allocation of appropriate resources, unclear roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders at all levels, low awareness amongst the rural population on disease associated with poor sanitation and unhygienic conditions and practices are all contributing factors. The Government of Nigeria and Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) through Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN) aims to address these issues systematically and put the country back on track by increasing sanitation access and improving hygiene behaviour of people in two pilot states. This paper gives account of the Executing Agency facilitation of Sub Grantees at various levels of Government and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) implementing CLTS and the results of 237 ODF communities recorded after 2 years of implementation.