Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) is a transformative approach to improving sanitation and hygiene practices in rural communities, primarily in developing countries. Unlike traditional sanitation programs that rely heavily on subsidies and infrastructure, CLTS focuses on changing behavior through community mobilization. It empowers communities to take collective action and eliminate open defecation, thereby improving health outcomes, dignity, and overall quality of life. This article explores the CLTS approach, its core principles, implementation strategies, impacts, and challenges.
Understanding the Principles of CLTS
At the heart of CLTS lies the principle of community empowerment. Rather than imposing external solutions, CLTS works on the idea that communities themselves can identify sanitation problems and drive solutions from within. It encourages self-analysis of sanitation practices and triggers collective behavior change.
The approach does not involve external hardware subsidies but rather facilitates a participatory process where community members explore the link between open defecation and disease transmission. Through tools such as transect walks, mapping, and real-time discussions, communities realize the implications of poor sanitation and are motivated to achieve Open Defecations Free (ODF) status.
This psychological shift—from seeing sanitation as a technical problem to viewing it as a community responsibility—lays the groundwork for sustainable change.
Implementation Strategies in CLTS
The CLTS process is typically carried out by trained facilitators who guide communities through a series of participatory activities. The most crucial stage is the “triggering” event, which helps provoke feelings of shame, disgust, or pride, leading to a strong desire for behavioral change. Triggering is designed to be a catalyst, prompting communities to build their own latrines and improve hygiene practices without reliance on external financial support.
Following the triggering, communities often form sanitation committees or select natural leaders—individuals who emerge as proactive agents of change. These leaders help mobilize their peers, monitor progress, and encourage households to construct latrines using locally available materials.
Monitoring and follow-up are vital. Regular visits by facilitators or health workers help reinforce the behavior changes and provide encouragement or guidance where needed. Some programs also incorporate rewards or recognition for communities that successfully achieve and maintain ODF status.
Positive Impacts of CLTS
CLTS has had significant positive impacts in many parts of the world, particularly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. One of the primary outcomes is the reduction of open defecation, which directly improves public health by reducing the spread of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and typhoid.
Beyond health, CLTS also contributes to environmental cleanliness, social cohesion, and increased dignity, especially for women and girls who are disproportionately affected by inadequate sanitation. In many communities, the sense of pride and ownership over the success of CLTS fosters broader development goals, such as improved water management, school attendance, and gender equality.
In countries like Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Indonesia, CLTS has been instrumental in achieving large-scale sanitation coverage, proving that community-driven change can outperform top-down approaches in certain contexts.
Challenges and Considerations
Despite its successes, CLTS is not without challenges. One major criticism revolves around the use of shame and social pressure as motivators, which can sometimes border on coercion or stigmatization, particularly of the poorest households. There is also concern about the sustainability of behavior change, especially in the absence of follow-up support or in the face of environmental challenges like flooding or lack of suitable construction materials.
Another challenge is the uneven quality of latrines built by households, as the emphasis on rapid, self-funded construction can lead to substandard or unsafe facilities. This raises questions about the balance between behavioral change and the need for technical support or financial assistance for vulnerable populations.
Moreover, while CLTS often celebrates the achievement of ODF status, maintaining it over the long term requires continued investment in education, monitoring, and possibly infrastructure upgrades, such as transitioning to more durable latrines and better waste management systems.
