What does it take to scale up and sustain rural sanitation beyond projects?

Abstract

Combining learning gained from Community-led Total Sanitation experiences in South Asia and sanitation marketing initiatives in parts of Asia and Africa, the global Scaling up Sanitation project is exploring in India, Indonesia and Tanzania what it takes to scale up and sustain rural sanitation project outcomes. New learning from the project being implemented by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), in partnership with the three country governments and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is currently demonstrating that projects need to identify and nurture key components of an enabling policy, institutional and financial environment, for rural sanitation interventions to yield sustainable results at scale. This article explains what constitutes such an enabling environment, how it is being fostered and its progress monitored in the three countries, and the lessons learned thus far in the process.