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Communication and Social
Mobilisation in Bangladesh
Behavioural Development
in Sanitation, Hygiene and Safe Water Use
In Bangladesh, the percentage
of people with adequate sanitation rose from 21% in 1990 to 38% in 1997.
However, 62% of the population still has no coverage and 20,000 metric
tonnes of faeces are discharged into fields and waterways every day. Each
year, this unhealthy situation contributes to 75 million episodes of
diarrhoeal diseases among children under five and the death of
approximately 110,000 children.
Campaign Targeting Children
Bangladesh's progress in
sanitation has been largely due to social action, mobilised by a
communications campaign. However the situation has remained static since
the mid-1990s and it was realised that a more dynamic communications
strategy, including a comprehensive media plan was needed to mobilise
communities not yet served. In 1998-1999 a new National Communication
Strategy for Sanitation, Hygiene and Safe Water Use was developed with
support from UNICEF. It aims to move beyond the social mobilisation of
groups that are easily reached and convinced, and to shape attitudes and
habits that will lead to a life-time of healthy living. It targets those
who suffer most from the lack of adequate sanitation coverage - children -
and through them, families. The 41% of Bangladeshi households that still
use unhealthy, hanging latrines is a special focus group.
Children, as well as the wider
community, are most easily reached through primary schools. The
communication strategy therefore calls for inserting hygiene education
into Bangladesh's School Water and Sanitation Programme, which is
constructing water and sanitation facilities in 10,350 primary schools and
promoting their regular use and maintenance. At the same time, primary and
secondary school students and their teachers will be mobilised to map and
monitor latrine construction and hygienic behaviour in the school area.
These school-based activities
complement a wider advocacy effort that involves the placement of 10,000
demonstration latrines, constructed by private producers, in the
households of influential community members. It also includes the
establishment of water and sanitation facilities in 600 health centres and
increasing access and use of safe water for drinking and hygiene in the
underserved Chittagong Hill Tracts. As is the case for all water and
sanitation sector activities in Bangladesh, the problem of arsenic in
ground-water must be addressed. All water sources constructed will be safe
and arsenic-free, and communication material will include information
about arsenic mitigation.
Communication Objectives for
2001
Reduction of disparities in
water and sanitation coverage, promotion of balanced roles for women and
men in caring for the environment and support for a decentralised approach
to planning, implementation and monitoring of new water and sanitation
facilities are expected to lead to a safer and cleaner environment in
Bangladesh. The National Communication Strategy aims for the following by
2001:
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awareness of 80% of the
population of how faeces contaminate water, soil, fingers and food;
-
41% additional rural
households motivated to construct sanitary latrines;
-
all school children in
classes 4-5 targeted under the School Sanitation Project actively
involved in cleaning and properly using latrines at school and home;
-
all school children in
classes 1-3 targeted under the School Sanitation Project knowing and
practising proper techniques for washing hands and using the latrine
regularly;
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at least 50% of the adult
population knowing and practising three methods of safe water
collection and knowing how to keep water safe once its collected;
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50% of the population
knowing how to protect ponds from contamination.
Elements of the
Communications Strategy
The Communications Strategy
includes development of a campaign logo that clearly identifies the
benefits of sanitation, hygiene and safe water use. It also features a
cartoon character called “Kamal Chacha” (Uncle Kamal). Both are used
on all materials.
Packages that work together
and are mutually reinforcing are designed to reach children and community
members directly. There is a strong concentration on media for, by and
with children, including:
-
a school package with
games, songs, rhymes, comic books and child-to-child activities that
conveys messages such as how germs are spread. There are components
for both young and older children, who are expected to carry messages
home and to their communities.
-
a media package. This
includes innovations for Bangladesh TV such as two-minute animated
infomercials, regular 30-second spots and five-second break-bumpers
with messages promoting core behavioural change (e.g., “did you wash
your hands today?"), designed to appeal to children. Radio spots
will rely on traditional media, such as jari songs, as well as a
rendition of the namta (the mathematics table set to song) to get
across sanitation messages.
To encourage sustainability,
the campaign will help build the marketing ability of local masons who
construct rings and slabs through a “sani-mart,” turning their mundane
shops into exciting, interactive communication vehicles. Marketing aids,
such as flyers and posters, as well as miniature latrine models, will
foster greater local supply and demand.
Surveys repeatedly show that
families in Bangladesh tend to get most of their information on issues
related to health through interpersonal communications. Communication
packages have thus been designed for those who come into closest contact
with the family, including 60,000 front-line health workers, religious
leaders such as Imams, and Bangladesh's extensive network of NGO workers.
Advocacy materials such as
communication aids will be prepared to help members of the Union Parishad
(UP), the lowest level of government in Bangladesh, promote the link
between health and sanitation/hygiene to villagers. In particular,
materials will be developed for female members of the UP, who hold
specially designated seats on the 12-member council. UP members will also
be assisted in advocating a role for the council in ensuring that land is
available to families who want to construct a sanitary latrine.
Best Practices
Benefiting from the social
marketing experience of UNICEF and other development agencies, the
campaign is observing the following “best practices”:
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outsourcing. It is being
developed by a full-service social marketing agency, Thompson Social
of New Delhi, in collaboration with its junior partner, Asiatic
Communication, in Dhaka. This enables access to private sector
initiatives and resources.
-
setting standard operating
procedures with regard to such matters as request for proposals,
agency selection and printing guidelines;
-
building capacity to
manage the development and implementation of activities through
in-house communication training and by apprenticing staff to social
marketing agencies;
-
creation of inter-sectoral
linkages, which are critical for maximum effectiveness. Cooperation is
maintained with a national oral rehydration therapy communication
campaign that includes school activities and a health workers’
package.
Lessons Learned
Lessons learned from the
School Sanitation and Social Mobilisation projects suggest additional best
practices.
One important observation has
to do with the benefits of maximum transparency and accountability with
regard to roles and responsibilities of various government officials, NGO
representatives and other partners. This leads to an improvement in
construction and maintenance of water supply and sanitation facilities,
resulting in greater community participation and sense of ownership.
Social mobilisation
experiments undertaken through schools in various districts have
demonstrated that children are effective in prompting their parents to
build and use sanitary latrines and to keep them clean.
The involvement of the NGO
Forum for Drinking Water and Sanitation in 20 thanas (districts) during
1993-1995 confirmed that a concentrated social mobilisation effort
involving local NGOs can increase sanitation coverage by 90% and improve
hygienic behaviours significantly. Accordingly, the NGO Forum and other
NGOs have been involved in advocacy and training/ orientation workshops
and village promotional efforts.
Private latrine producers play
a major role in raising sanitary latrine coverage, not only by selling
hardware but also by offering advice on how to build latrines. A 1995
survey showed that the number of such producers increased in response to
the growing demand for facilities created by communication and social
mobilisation efforts.
Finally, Care International's
Sanitation and Family Education (SAFE) project and its subsequent
expansion to the Sanitation and Family Education Resource (SAFER) has
shown the effectiveness of six integrated interventions in reducing
diarrhoeal incidences by two-thirds within one year in the Chittagong
district of Bangladesh. They are: clean water; sanitary latrine use and
safe disposal of faeces; environmental cleanliness; proper hand washing;
food hygiene; and diarrhoea management. The inter-sectoral approach, the
active involvement of children, the effective role of local NGOs, and
development of a monitoring system for behavioural development are among
the lessons of this programme that could be more widely applied.
Source: Deepak Bajracharya,
UNICEF Bangladesh.
Email: dbajracharya@unicef.org
Photo: Shehzad Noorani/UNICEF
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