Over 80% of Vanuatu’s rural population has basic access to water, however basic access to sanitation is less than 50%, and to hygiene less than 20%. Diarrhea is the main cause of death in children under 5 years old, with one child out of three stunted.

Vanuatu’s national sanitation policy recognises these huge gaps in access, and led to the development of the national sanitation and hygiene guidelines. However, gaps remain in operationalizing these for change at the village level.

Strong leadership and the national prioritization of water, sanitation and hygiene by governments and partners is needed. Most countries have policies in place, but they are often underfunded and constrained.

To successfully move national policy into effective water, sanitation and hygiene improvements, as well as service delivery at a community-level requires a clear and integrated system of delivery from national through to village-level management.

A pilot project led by IsraAID with support from the Asian Development Bank, found that while the policy setting was very much in place, there was a significant lack of real understanding of how a ‘system’ to operationalize sanitation and hygiene at a village and provincial level could work.

By testing a delivery system, the project demonstrated how effective and sustainable services could be delivered on the ground, including through the use of suitably localized materials.

The pilot project in Vanuatu demonstrated that village sanitation and hygiene rules cannot be developed before both provincial governments and villages sufficiently understand the subject. When it comes to enforcing bylaws, penalties for non-compliance make little sense until communities fully understand what they are doing wrong.

To successfully move national policy into effective water, sanitation and hygiene improvements, and service delivery, at a community-level requires a clear and integrated system of delivery from national through to village-level management.

To support the successful delivery of services on the ground, the following actions should be taken:

Focus on governance over developing more ‘tools’. To make water, sanitation and hygiene extension services work, we need to focus on who and how extension services will be delivered as a priority over what will be delivered. There are plenty of tools, but for systems to work the focus needs to be on governance.

Ensure guidelines are practical and easily understood. Reviewing existing sanitation and hygiene guidelines to ensure they are accessible and practical for all, including community members, tradespeople (e.g. plumbers) and health workers. For example, use highly visual materials in local language.

Integrate service delivery. There is a need to streamline extension services and standardize what already exists. Practitioners should consider how they can contribute to existing sanitation and hygiene policies and integrate their projects into central services rather than creating siloed projects.

Prioritize sanitation and hygiene knowledge. For provincial and local governments to implement and oversee sanitation programs and enforce compliance to national standards and laws, there needs to be full understanding of sanitation and hygiene by all. A nationwide behavior change campaign should be prioritized before enforcing national policies and bylaws at a local level.  Only when community knowledge and understanding is high enough can national laws and bylaws be implemented effectively, and sanitation and hygiene be improved.

In Vanuatu the development of behavior change materials, a major review and update of sanitation hygiene guidelines and manuals to make them easier to use, and the drafting of sanitation and hygiene bylaws to translate national regulations into simple and practical language at a provincial and village level, are supporting progress of community sanitation and hygiene access.

To achieve real progress beyond the development of national policies and supporting plans,  countries seeking to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene must look at the whole system and seek ways to streamline, integrate and operationalize sanitation and hygiene services from national policy down to village-level.

By empowering communities with the knowledge and tools they need, we can save lives and reduce disease for people in Vanuatu and countries dealing with similar issues.