Sanitation in a changing world: the need for a paradigm shift in the mindset of development agencies

Abstract

ABSTRACT National and international agencies have struggled to address sanitation challenges for over a century without groundbreaking evidence of success. The context of sanitation management has changed over the last two centuries. In this changing world, the viewpoint calls for development agencies to move from a fixed-growth mindset towards a ‘benefit mindset’. Such a perspective is about purposefulness, adaptability and flexibility by developing context-specific approaches. In this respect, improvised community-led total sanitation (CLTS) could offer a way forward.