Information, Education and Communication |

Information, Education and Communication (IEC) are important components of the TSC. In the past supply driven CRSP was implemented under which large number of toilets have been constructed. Unfortunately, this massive effort could not achieve the desirable success, as the toilets were not put to use largely due to lack of demand, lack of participation in programme implementation and, lack of awareness among the community regarding health and hygiene aspects of safe drinking water and clean sanitation facilities. There is an increasing realization that, in any water and sanitation programmes, continued access to water and sanitation services is not enough to sustain hygienic behaviours. It is the awareness and the education component of a sanitation programme that leads to sustained behavioral change. Experience has shown that information, education, and communication (IEC) campaigns involving communities and grassroots organizations can accelerate the process of change and hasten the adoption of sanitary practices. However these efforts must include addressing sociocultural attitudes toward owning a household toilet. The intensity of the hygiene promotion and education is important in leading to sustained practices. Intensive hygiene activities also use different channels to reach people such as community meetings, home visits, contacts in classes, traditional media, different IEC materials etc. It is very important to know which strategies to adopt for hygiene promotion and education in a particular situation, which will help people continue safe practices after an intervention has ended.

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