Total sanitation: is your neighbour killing you?

Sarah Nbuma displays good sanitation apparatus inside her latrine in Nsasa village, Mpigi District.

Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Irby

Sanitation Week 15 to 21 March 2007 

The Uganda National Sanitation Working Group (UNSWG) coordinated a week of activities aimed at raising the profile of hygiene and sanitation issues in Uganda. The theme of the week was total sanitation: is your neighbour killing you?

Activities focused on stressing the need for communal responsibility, encouraging citizens to look at their immediate environment to identify and address possible areas of poor sanitation and hygiene.

The following districts and divisions were selected to host the regional Sanitation Week celebrations.

Getting sanitation on the agenda
Religious and cultural leaders are some of the most listened to opinion formers in Uganda and efforts are being made to consolidate and nurture a working relationship with them as part of the week's activities. 

Communications relating to the promotion of hygiene and sanitation have been distributed to them with the aim of inspiring sermons on the subject in mosques and churches.

Illustrating the problem
A photo exhibition was held at the national parliament in Kampala. A professional photographer was commissioned to take a series of sanitation-centred photos, highlighting both good and bad sanitation practices in a number of rural and urban areas.

Check out some of the pictures that were on show

The photos were exhibited for the whole of March 2007. The aim was to engage politicians and the media on the national state of sanitation and hygiene.

Singer Bobi Wine.

Making use of the airwaves
Last year Singer Bobi Wine composed Kadingo, a song with a strong sanitation message. The UNSWG aimed to jump-start the song's hit potential by trying to get it played on Uganda's radio stations which are very popular with the public.

Already 60% of the leading radio stations and night clubs are power playing Kadingo. The target is to have this happen for at least one month, in the hope that there after, demand for the song will continue.

Get the mp3 of Kadingo ( mp3 1Mb)

Student involvement
As noted from the Sanitation Week report for 2006, the student community responds well to a competition. Efforts were made to therefore work towards tapping into the Wildlife Clubs of Uganda to interest both primary and secondary schools to send in essays detailing what their school has done to promote low cost sanitation and hygiene.

At least 3000 schools were targeted. Prizes for the best essays were on offer.

Solid waste obstructs an open sewer in Buwaise.

Credit: WaterAid / Caroline Irby

Partner activities
Many of the Sanitation Week sponsors and partners held their own activities, for example, WaterAid partner CIDI held a day of action to unblock drainage channels in Buwaise.

The channels in the area have become clogged up by accumulations of solid waste, leading to flooding and pools of stagnant sewage.

CIDI aimed to mobilise community members to help get the channels flowing again, improving the general environment.