Aguasan-Workshop: “This shit drama – Are there ways out?”

Despite decades of effort in the field of sanitation and hygiene, the situation remains catastrophic. We, the sector professionals, are tired of being repeatedly reminded of the serious consequences of this situation. It seems that everything possible has been done but very with limited success. The topic remains dirty and unattractive. It demands changes in people's habits at a personal level, which is a very, very difficult "business". The unfreezing of existing habits, the move for a change and the consolidation of new habits seem to require the lifespan of generations. Yet, do we have this time? Why should we involve ourselves into something that looks so hopeless and unattractive? These were key questions that influenced our choice of the topic for the Aguasan Workshop 2003.

Considering the actual situation and the magnitude of the challenge, we want to release the deadlock by looking at the following two levels: Firstly, we shall draw lessons from existing cases. Why have they succeeded or failed? Which have been the favouring or hindering contextual factors? Which have been the determining interventions that contributed to the success? How could these approaches be replicated and possibly scaled up? Secondly, we want to learn from three specific approaches (applied successfully in other related sectors) to bring about the desired changes: Promotion / awareness creation, Marketing, Pressure / Pulling.

The overall aim of the workshop is to contribute to the reduction of disease and death caused by unhygienic sanitary situations. In practical terms, this means that the workshop should develop effective approaches that will reduce the transmission of excreta-related infections - through improved hygienic practices, through better access to sanitary facilities and through protection of drinking water.

Given the scale and significance of the challenge, we want to take full advantage of the professionals’ experience at the workshop. This means that each participant is expected to bring his/her own relevant example (or ”showcase”) - be it a success story or not. These examples - and four specifically selected cases - will represent the raw material that the participants will work with. Together with contributions from three specialists, we shall try to find an appropriate mix of ideas by taking promising ingredients from three approaches: awareness building measures, marketing procedures and using a push/pull method. Participants will then develop a blend of measures to suit each of the four workshop cases. Based on this experience, participants will then be able to apply the developed to other cases, including their own ”showcases”.