Exploring community-led total sanitation as a mechanism to eliminate open-defecation: A case study of Havana informal settlement in Windhoek, Namibia
Date
2024
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
The study seeks to explore whether the newly adopted Community-Led Total
Sanitation can improve access to and use of latrines in the Havana informal settlement
as opposed to the current model of subsidised ablution facilities. Namibia has made
tremendous strides in improving sanitation, particularly in formal urban areas.
However, access to better sanitation and hygiene in informal urban areas remains
limited. The rapid expansion of the urban population due to rural-to-urban migration
has not been matched by an increase in urban infrastructure which includes housing,
water supply, sanitation, electricity as well as solid waste removal. Open-defecation is
frequent in these places, and hygiene education is lacking. Like most countries in the
third world, Namibia is faced with a sanitation crisis. The country has in the past
adopted various methodologies to address the crisis, of which the most popular is the
traditional subsidisation of ablution facilities. It has since dawned on the government
that the business-as-usual approach is not yielding the much-needed results to help the
country attain the sanitation component of Target 6 of the SGD. It is against this
background that the Namibian Government in 2016 piloted the Community-led total
sanitation approach to address the sanitation crisis and the elimination of open defecation for improved quality of life and for a healthy Namibia. The study employed
a mixed-methods research approach that included both quantitative and qualitative
methodologies. The study's population was made up of the inhabitants of Windhoek's
Havana Informal Settlement who were identified using systematic and judgmental
sampling approaches. Data was collected from inhabitants of Windhoek’s Havana
Informal Settlement, workers of the City of Windhoek, the Municipal Council and the
Shack Dwellers Federation through interviews and questionnaires. One hundred and
thirty people made up the sample. The study revealed that attempts to eliminate open defecation require a diverse strategy. Sanitation must be prioritised at a central
government level with enough budgetary resources to enable a change in hygiene
behaviour at a household level. The traditional subsidisation approach proves to be
inadequate in the attainment of open-defecation-free communities due to a lack of
financial resources and “merely” having a toilet does not guarantee its utilisation and
maintenance without the proper adjustment in hygienic behaviour. To achieve a
collective shift in hygiene behaviour, there is a need to strengthen community health
education inside communities through information dissemination and communication
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of master of public administration
Keywords
Sanitation, Hygiene, Open-defecation, Open-defecation-free, Informal settlements, Participatory, Community, Interventions