Nijeder Jannya Nijera in the News
Articles published on how the initiative of CARE Bangladesh's Nijeder Jannya Nijera Project protected the Korotoa embankment in June 2007, saving five unions of Gaibandha district from devastating floods.
The Bangladesh Observer JPEG
The New Age JPEG
The News Today JPEG
The Independent JPEG

The WaterAid Bangladesh / VERC 100% Sanitation Approach: Cost, Motivation and Sustainability Sophie C Allan. Masters dissertation for London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine September, 2003 PDF

Further details on CLTS in Bangladesh

Challenges:
• Subsidy continues to be a key challenge: Government and other major agencies commitment to shifting towards a no subsidy approach will be a major determinant of the future of community led total sanitation in Bangladesh. The Government is giving a small subsidy to the hardcore poor households in the form of a few sets of latrines per village. These are being distributed by the Union Parishads but often misunderstandings and dissatisfaction arises between the members and the Chairmen of the UP over the distribution of these free toilets. There is National Sanitation Strategy in place which has brought some degree of harmony among various approaches followed by different agencies. The government is continuing to allocate fund for promoting sanitation, and recommends that 75 per cent of this allocation be used for free latrines for the hardcore poor families, and 25 per cent for promotional activities. In the ODF areas, the proportion is reversed and the subsidised hardware is given to public places like schools or markets.
• Communities are victims of target driven push for CLTS: Government’s target of 100 per cent sanitation coverage by 2010 is both a blessing and a curse. While the GoB initiative on a national sanitation strategy is good in that it highlights sanitation, it introduces the real risk of failing to create household demand and facilitate a community drive process. The target driven approach is leading to a rush to declare the Unions, Upazillas or Districts ‘Totally Open Defecation Free’ in order to obtain the reward for UPs that reach ODF status. Often in the villages communities are informed by the UNO (Upazilla Nirbahi Officer) and Upazilla administration to construct latrines within a stipulated
time, failing which households having means of constructing toilets would be fined up to Tk 2,000.

Successes
• Since its innovation in early 2000, the success of CLTS has been most promising in Bangladesh. It is difficult to ascertain the exact number of paras or villages who have either totally freed themselves from open defecation or very near to it. Rough estimates done by some agencies say it must have passed 10,000 paras. The approach has now spread all over the country including some of the Haor and Char Upazillas and Unions. Mijchar Union of Bajitpur Upazilla became the very first Haor union who could make the entire Union of 34 (Antis) small islands totally free from open defecation.
• Visitors from all over Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, China, Cambodia and Nepal visited the communities of this successful CLTS union.

Lessons learned/recommendations
• Like minded organisations implementing CLTS in Bangladesh have joined together to form a consortium called Dishari, to coordinate and oversee implementation and monitoring of CLTS. Member agencies include Plan, Water Aid, WSP, Dakha Ahasania Mission and World Vision.

(source: Kamal Kar and Petra Bongartz, 2006. Update to IDS Working Paper 257 PDF)