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Ethiopia addresses challenges in latrine building and hygiene

Poor hygiene and sanitation are the main causes of poor health in southern Ethiopia. The Bureau of Health of the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region has now introduced a successful strategy to build latrines and teach people about the importance of sanitation and hygiene.

According to various studies, more than 80 percent of people in developing countries become ill because they do not have enough clean water and their waste is not disposed of safely. Furthermore, development agencies have ignored sanitation and hygiene in their programmes. In recognition of this, and in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals, the Bureau of Health in Ethiopia’s Southern Region has made sanitation and hygiene a key component of its health policy since 2003.

Research from the Research-inspired Policy and Practice Learning in Ethiopia and the Nile Region programme (RiPPLE) assessed the Bureau of Health’s sanitation policy in Mirab Abaya and Alaba, two ‘Woredas’ (or districts) in the Southern Region. The study found that, in the last three years, many traditional pit latrines have been built in Mirab Abaya and in Alaba. Women help build the latrines but men take responsibility for them. Women are responsible for hand washing facilities and most people know that washing their hands is important. Most people who own a latrine say that they always use it. However, elderly people use it less often and many people, including women, urinate outside the latrine.

Despite achievements in building latrines, hygiene and sanitation in the area have not improved as much as they might. This is because local people still face a number of obstacles:

Most pit latrines have collapsed because the soil is loose, because of flooding or because termites have destroyed the wooden floors.

There is not enough wood for building, and the latrines overflow in the rainy season and smell foul.
People cannot use some latrines because in some areas women are not allowed to share a latrine with their husband’s family and only 11 percent of latrines provide privacy.
A scarcity of water means that people take drinking water from unprotected hand-dug wells, rivers and ponds. It is often stored in uncovered containers and gets contaminated.
Many people do not wash their hands regularly or use soap. This is partly because the washbasins are not near the latrine.
People don’t understand the importance of using soap and many cannot afford to buy it.

In order to improve health conditions, the Bureau of Health needs to encourage local people to change their attitudes. It should also improve building technology, the availability of construction materials, and the positioning of latrines and hand washing facilities. In particular it should:

implement intensive health education to change hand washing behaviour
strengthen the reinforcement of behaviour change of the community, using ‘shame’ as a central issue to achieve its goals
promote safe water storage and handling practices
develop ways of building traditional pit latrines that are appropriate to the local environment and local resources.

Source(s):
‘Technical issues of Sanitation and Hygiene in Mirab Abaya and Alaba: A case study report from the Southern Nations Region (‘SNNPR’) of Ethiopia’, RiPPLE Working Paper 2, Research- inspired Policy & Practice Learning in Ethiopia and the Nile Region: Addis Ababa, by Worku Tefera, 2008 Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID)

id21 Research Highlight: 5 December 2008

Further Information:
Worku Tefera
School of Public Health
Faculty of Medicine
Addis Ababa University

Contact the contributor: workutefera2000@yahoo.com

Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

RiPPLE Office
P.O.Box 4812
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
www.rippleethiopia.org

Tel: +251 114 160075
Contact the contributor: info@rippleethiopia.org

Research- inspired Policy & Practice Learning in Ethiopia and the Nile Region Office, Ethiopia

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