We're Listening: An Evaluation of User-Centred Community Engagement In Emergency Sanitation

Community engagement in emergency sanitation is often limited and rarely monitored or evaluated, despite its perceived importance. Documented evidence of the effectiveness of rapid community engagement in emergencies is scarce. In 2017, the Humanitarian Innovation Fund launched a challenge to develop and test innovative community engagement approaches for emergency sanitation and to evaluate their effectiveness using a robust monitoring and evaluation methodology. Qatar Red Crescent Society, Save the Children and Welthungerhilfe implemented user-centred sanitation projects in Lebanon, Bangladesh, Iraq and Uganda, and the four projects were evaluated by Oxfam.

This report presents the findings, discusses the methods used and considers their effect on latrine design, satisfaction and ownership. The report identifies promising practices and points to evidence gaps which could be addressed in future community engagement responses. Also available to download: a note on the methodology of the evaluation.