Scaling-up and sustainability, the elusive double quest: Villages assainis in DR Congo

Maggie Black

doi:10.3362/1756-3488.2013.017

Scaling-up and sustainability, the elusive double quest: Villages assainis in DR Congo

Solutions to the quest for rapid WASH service spread, while at the same time consolidating service sustainability, still remain elusive. In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), despite acute social and economic problems, depletion of infrastructure, ongoing civil war, and severe cholera outbreaks, a donor-supported Ministry of Health ‘Healthy village, Healthy school’ (Ecole et Village Assainis) programme has achieved remarkable results. After five years, over 2,300 villages have been declared ‘assaini’, as have 800 schools, as a result of genuine community-based action. Diarrhoeal disease has been reduced by 80 per cent, with assaini villages proving resistant to cholera infection. But the speed of programme take-up is far slower than needed to reach the MDG for 2015; and a longer and costlier process of input and follow-up is needed to sustain services and health gains. What will it take to boost take-up and consolidate the ‘clean and healthy’ lifestyle?

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