Sustainability of ODF in Nepal

Nepal made a remarkable progress in increasing sanitation coverage from 43% in 2010 to over 95% in 2017 with 45 of 75 districts achieved Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. Effective government leadership, creation of enabling environment through development and operationalization of operationalization of Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan, strong sector coordination at all levels, and transformation of sanitation promotion to sanitation social movement are the major success factors. In order to assess the sustainability of ODF, a study was conducted in 2016 covering 2,100 households from seven districts. The study showed that 96.5 % of households were using toilets while the remaining 3.5% were defecating in open. The study confirms creation of new social norms which contributed to uptake and use of toilets at large scale. The study also identified major areas for improvement and proposes critical recommendations to address them. Major findings from the study are presented in this paper.