Si la merde m’était contée : l’assainissement total piloté par la communauté en Afrique

This publication analyses experiences from the CLTS pilots in some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, drawing out what seems to be working, where the challenges are, and how the approach needs to be adapted for this new context. The special issue begins with an overview of CLTS: how it developed; how it differs from other sanitation approaches, its key elements and conditions for success, and emerging issues and questions followed by a review of CLTS in Africa, drawing out lessons and identifying challenges when scaling up. Part I looks at community-level processes in CLTS in more detail, from innovative forms of triggering, to the importance of language, building on an understanding of local taboos, and the potential of CLTS to empower children and youth. Part II considers some of the management and organisational changes needed for CLTS to be effective. Many of these lessons also apply to other participatory development approaches. Part III looks at the opportunities, challenges and lessons for taking CLTS to scale, based on experiences so far in Africa. Part IV focuses on training, with a piece on training of CLTS facilitators. It also includes a piece on running a writeshop, drawing on the experience of the writeshop run for this CLTS issue.