The Solomon Islands Ministry of Health, UNICEF and NGOs participated in a recent workshop on  Community Led Total Sanitation (CTLS).

The six day event was the first of its kind in Solomon Islands using the concept of community-led development to improve health through safe and sustainable sanitation. Dr. Kamal Kar, founder of the CLTS Foundation, conducted the CLTS Training of Trainers workshop. He encouraged the participants to work together to support the elimination of open defecation in communities in the Solomon Islands.

Approximately 237 million people live in more than 16,000 islands that make up the nation of Indonesia. According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program on drinking water and sanitation, a staggering 62 million Indonesians still defecate in the open, using fields and waterways to complete their most private business. The Association of Grobogan Sanitation Entrepreneurs (PAPSIGRO) is a group of sanitation marketers who are hoping to do a thing or million about this.

Indonesia is the third-lowest ranking ASEAN country in terms of sanitation quality, according to Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto.“We’re obviously not in the worst position, but that’s where we are. Just look at UNICEF’s data from 2011, which reported that 26 percent of Indonesian citizens are still defecating in open spaces,” Djoko said on Monday at a sanitation conference in Jakarta, as quoted by Antara news agency.