Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) – Ethiopia Training (Jan 2025, Hawasa)

30 English vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, phases, tools, actors and challenges discussed in the Community-Led Total Sanitation lecture notes.

Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)

A participatory approach that engages communities to analyze and improve their own sanitation practices, aiming to eliminate open defecation.

CLTSH

Community-Led Total Sanitation and Hygiene – the expanded CLTS approach that explicitly includes hygiene behaviors such as hand-washing.

Open Defecation-Free (ODF) Community

A village or kebele where all residents use hygienic latrines and no one practices open defecation.

Pre-Ignition / Preparation & Planning Phase

First CLTS phase; involves community selection, a pre-visit, and drafting an action plan.

Ignition (Triggering) Phase

Second CLTS phase; facilitators conduct participatory exercises that ‘trigger’ collective disgust and commitment to end open defecation.

Post-Ignition / Follow-up Phase

Third CLTS phase focusing on training, coaching, monitoring and supporting communities to sustain behavior change.

Verification, Recognition & Scale-Up Phase

Fourth CLTS phase where ODF status is verified, communities are certified/celebrated, and lessons are expanded to new areas.

Natural Leaders

Motivated community members who emerge during triggering and champion sanitation improvements after ignition.

Kebele

The smallest administrative unit in Ethiopia; often the target area for CLTS activities.

Transect Walk (“Shame Walk”)

Triggering tool: community members walk through the village to observe and discuss sites of open defecation, creating collective realization.

Sanitation / Social Mapping

Participatory mapping exercise where villagers mark households, defecation sites, water points, and latrines to visualize sanitation status.

Shit Calculation

Facilitated estimation of daily or yearly feces produced by the community to highlight contamination magnitude.

Shit Flow Diagram

Visual diagram showing how fecal matter moves from defecation sites to water, food and people, emphasizing health risks.

Glass-of-Water / Bread Exercise

Demonstration where a hair or feces particle is placed in water or on bread to provoke disgust and commitment to stop open defecation.

Village Visit (Pre-Ignition)

Step where facilitators meet local leaders, schedule ignition, and build rapport before triggering activities.

School Ignition

Adaptation of triggering methods for teachers and pupils so that schools mirror and reinforce community sanitation actions.

HDA / WDT

Health Development Army / Women Development Team – grassroots networks mobilized for hygiene promotion during post-ignition.

WASHCO

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Committee – a community group responsible for managing local WASH facilities and activities.

Community Conversation (CC)

Structured group dialogue method used to discuss and solve sanitation and hygiene issues.

Family Dialogue / Mikikir

Inter-household discussions facilitated by leaders to reinforce sanitation behavior change within families.

Sanitation Marketing

Use of business and market principles to promote affordable, attractive latrine products and services.

ODF Slippage

Reversion of a previously certified ODF community back to open defecation practices.

Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting (MER)

Systematic tracking of CLTS progress, outcomes and data quality during post-ignition.

Scaling-Up

Expanding successful CLTS practices to more villages through media, events, and experience sharing.

Coffee for Health Event

Community gathering that combines traditional coffee ceremonies with discussions on hygiene and sanitation.

Household-Level Negotiation

One-on-one or family discussions aimed at persuading reluctant households to construct and use latrines.

Faith-Based Organization (FBO)

Religious institution engaged to promote sanitation messages through churches, mosques, or other faith platforms.

Financial Constraint to Improved Latrines

Economic barrier preventing households from upgrading to durable, hygienic toilets.

Low-Quality Building Materials

Inferior construction inputs that hinder long-term latrine durability and contribute to slippage.

Triggering Tools

Collective term for participatory exercises (e.g., shame walk, mapping, feces calculations) used during ignition to spark behavior change.