2,000 families have already benefited from the construction of new toilets🚽

The Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) project is being implemented by People in Need (PIN) staff working on WASH-Nutri (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Nutrition) issues. The project is supported by UNICEF and Banco de Fomento Angola (BFA). PIN has been developing this project in collaboration with UNICEF since 2011 and is currently focusing on the province of Bié. The project aims at developing tools and methodologies for communities to participate in reducing pollution and environmental contamination.

In the province of Bié, the WASH-Nutri project has already been implemented in the villages of Chinguar, Cuito, Catabola, Camacupa and Nharêa, where positive results have motivated other villages to ask for help with implementation. Thanks to these successes, PIN has expanded its activities to other provinces, such as Cunhinga, for a period of ten months. During this time, the team, in collaboration with local residents, built toilets and cleaned up the environmental contamination around these villages.

"I am thrilled that this project is also in our village. Before, there were a lot of diseases because people used to perform their needs near their dwellings and beside the river. We use the water from this river for cooking and drinking. Also, there were flies everywhere, which also carry diseases. They used to crawl on our food," says Pessoa Saele, a resident of Chivela, adding: "a lot of people were sick, but since the toilets have been built, the number of sick people has decreased, and we want the project to continue so that we can learn more useful things."

The goal is to help approximately 2,000 families eliminate soil contamination and create a clean and safe environment. PIN also provides information on good hygiene, health, and good nutrition.

"We are interested in making this project work and significantly reducing the illness of local people, especially acute diarrheal diseases. We want the project to continue. It is a great help and support for us," said Jorgina Lumati, a community relay. 

People in Need and UNICEF aim to expand the knowledge of people from the municipal, commune, and provincial unopened defecation committees to support the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation process of the STLC (Community-Led Total Sanitation) programme in all communes to ensure the sustainability of the programme.