Challenges and strategies for meeting the sanitation MDG target by 2015

The challenges in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) target for sanitation by 2015 are many and include the large numbers of temporary latrines, low capacity for sanitation promotion in the country, weak policies and strategies for sanitation promotion, low support for sanitation in donor supported programs, social resistance to the use of the latrines, and lack of multisectoral partnerships for sanitation promotion. Promoting innovative approaches that empower people to build toilets like Ecological Sanitation (EcoSan), CommunityLed Total Sanitation (CLTS), CommunityBased Total Sanitation (CBTS), School Sanitation, and SchoolLed Total Sanitation (SLTS), among others, will lead to quick and sustainable increase in sanitation access and coverage. The challenges to meeting the MDG targets for sanitation by 2015 are formidable; so the targets can only be achieved by decentralisation, scaling up implementation of strategic approaches and multi sectoral cooperation (GRZ/UNDP, 2008).