In 2017, 21 per cent of South Asia’s population practiced open defecation and only 57 per cent of households had a basic handwashing facility (UNICEF and WHO, 2019). Though vast progress has been made since 2017, those with a safely managed sanitation and basic handwashing facilities remains low while open defecation is still a huge challenge.

To share good practices and identify ways forward, a South Asia Rapid Action Learning (RAL) workshop was held in Negombo, Sri Lanka, December 9-11th 2019. The event organised by the SACOSAN Regional Centre for Sanitation brought together 56 participants from all eight countries in the region (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) to share, learn and plan actions to increase progress towards sustainable sanitation and hygiene ensuring no one is left behind.
The objectives of the workshop were three-fold:

• To share learning from practical actions implemented in the region for achieving sustainable sanitation focusing on leaving no one behind
• To demonstrate the Rapid Action Learning (RAL) Workshops methodology and other timely, relevant and actionable learning activities
• Plan country/organisation and individual actions moving forward

This rapid report presents highlights of the discussions held at the workshop.