Assessing the effectiveness of community based health and sanitation program in Nepal : (A field study of Sunpati Rural Municipality of Ramechhap District )

Abstract

This academic study was focused on Assessing the Effectiveness of Community-Based Health and Sanitation Program in Nepal: which is a project area of the Community Development Society (CDS) and has executed a community-based health and sanitation program. The study adopted to mixed method, so conducted a household survey for quantitative data collection and focused group discussion, key informants interview and field observation for qualitative data collection. The general objective of the study was to analyze the effectiveness of the community-based health and sanitation program WaSH-related activities, which were simplified and segregated to identify the water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) sector in Sunapati Rural Municipality. Similarly, other objectives were to analyze the program's alignment with Sustainable Development Goals-6 (SDGs-6) and to assess the impact on the sanitation status of the beneficiaries before and after project initiation. Two types of data were collected: qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative data describes a certain subject's characteristics, qualities and other non-quantifiable traits. For the data collection, 131 household surveys, 5 focus group discussion with women groups, 10 key informant interviews and 11 drinking water schemes and 11 schools were observed. Both quantitative and qualitative data analysis revealed that community-based health and sanitation programs work on areas related to sanitation and hygiene, such as drinking water, lavatories construction and regular hygiene as soon as they are directly connected to the health. The majority of respondents are generally found to have a good attitude toward the program and to be pleased and content with the advancement that the community-based programs have brought to the municipality. The analysis further showed the effectiveness with which the CDS program correspond to the SDG-6. The study found that the CDS programs were effective and contributed to improvements in the health and sanitation sectors in Sunapati Rural Municipality.