CIDRZ Project Gets Underway

On 11th and 12th May, the SHARE team at CIDRZ, together with their LSHTM counterparts, facilitated a framing workshop for the ‘San-Dem’ project taking place under SHARE Phase II. The workshop is the first step in this project which aims to help establish the role demand creation can play in solving the problem of peri- urban sanitation in Lusaka, Zambia.

Setting the stage

The objective of the workshop was to set the stage for the process of designing a state-of-the-art behaviour change intervention to enhance demand for sanitation. It is the first of five steps in the Behaviour Centred Design (BCD) approach we’re using (Assess, Build, Create, Deliver and Evaluate).

In attendance were 12 key players and stakeholders in the sanitation sector, including representatives from:

• Lusaka Water and Sewerage Company
• The Millennium Challenge Account Zambia
• The Ministry of Health
• The Ministry of Local Government and Housing
• The National Water Supply and Sanitation Council
• The University of Zambia’s Water Institute
• The Water and Sanitation Association of Zambia
• The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Programme
• Toilet Yanga
• UNICEF
• USAID
• Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor

Attendees were excited to discuss the issue of demand creation for sanitation using the BCD approach, stating that it is an important factor and first step in improving acquisition of latrines for peri-urban slums.

Prioritisation

Engaging activities and discussions took place, including presentations from key stakeholders on: what the Lusaka sanitation landscape looks like; their current workplans/projects; and the areas in which they are operating. This gave the SHARE project team direction on which peri-urban slums to prioritise for its work (subject to further evaluation of course).

Group-work activities also engaged attendees in discussions on theories of change, behaviour settings and motives, potential target behaviours, target populations and locations for the SHARE project, as well as the factors that determine sanitation demand.

Next steps

The SHARE project team will build on the important insights garnered at the workshop by conducting further discussions and site visits to proposed areas in order to clearly define the project. We are also ready to start writing our formative research protocol.