The Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) approach to sanitation improvement was introduced in Solomon Islands by UNICEF and World Vision in 2013.  From 2013 -2016, UNICEF led a small-scale expansion of CLTS into Isabel, Makira and Temotu provinces with financial support from the EU, and through implementing partners World Vision and Live and Learn.

In late 2014, the Solomon Islands Government endorsed a new Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Policy, which placed the Ministry of Health and Medical Services as the lead coordinating agency for rural WASH in the Solomon Islands.  Under the new policy, sanitation improvement is now being done through a demand-creation approach – with CLTS the government’s preferred model – combined with an end to subsidies for household sanitation.

In 2015, a Technical Advisor was appointed to help develop a CLTS Toolkit for standardised implementation and monitoring of CLTS in the country.  A pilot held in Isabel Province - with UNICEF Pacific, Live and Learn and support from the EU and Australian Government - saw the achievement of the first “No Open Defecation” (NOD) village in the country in three months.  Learnings from the pilot were incorporated into the final CLTS Toolkit, which was approved in December 2015.

CLTS is now going through a staged scale-up in the country, with five Provinces being engaged in 2016 with implementation support from the Provincial Government and sector partners:  Live & Learn, Plan Australia, Solomon Islands Red Cross, French Red Cross, World Vision, and UNDP.

There are also plans in 2016 to develop guidelines and materials for institutional triggering, and develop a WASH Marketing strategy for improving water, sanitation and hygiene supply chains.

The Ministry’s CLTS program is supported financially and technically by the Australian Government and UNICEF.

(July 2016)