Learning to promote good hygiene and sanitation practices in Namibian communities

Effective hygiene and sanitation are crucial for the health and well-being of communities, especially in urban informal settlements and rural areas. There are many ways to get communities involved in keeping their surroundings clean, including clean-up campaigns and associated awareness creation. 

On the 18^th of July 2024, the Namibian Youth Chamber of Environment (NYCE) hosted its inaugural webinar on Google Meet, which was focused on Community Hygiene and Sanitation. We invited Development Workshop of Namibia’s sanitation programme coordinator, Mr Sheya Gotlieb, to give a presentation on their work. The meeting was facilitated by NYCE’s president Mr Punaete Kandjii. 

Development Workshop Namibia (DWN) is a leading Namibian non-governmental organisation (NGO) with a focus on sustainable urban development – uplifting informal settlements and the disadvantaged communities that reside in them. We chose DWN for this webinar because of their extensive experience in working with communities to tackle hygiene and sanitation issues. Our members are interested in running their own clean up campaigns, so this was an excellent opportunity to find out more about how to use such campaigns to make lasting positive changes in our communities.

Mr Gotlieb shared some of the major challenges encountered in Namibia in relation to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH). Informal settlements and rural areas lack WASH facilities and infrastructure, people are unaware of the dangers of pollution and poor waste management practices, while local authorities in towns and cities have limited capacity to resolve these problems. These challenges can be tackled by consistent, feasible and effective initiatives such as clean-ups, awareness and education, recycling, and improved waste management. While these ideas are excellent on paper, real differences are only made with sustained effort on the ground alongside the affected communities.

Key lessons from this webinar: 

1. Community mobilisation strategies are key. DWN focuses onbuilding trust through community meetings, radio announcements, house-to-house visits, and frequent consultations with community leaders and local groups.
2. Waste management options are essential. Even when people are aware of the need to dispose of their waste, if waste is not collected regularly, it will not help. DWN’s work involves separation of recyclables, working with waste recyclers, creating waste collection points closer to communities using skip containers, along with ongoing environmental awareness. 
3. Clean up campaigns must keep sustainability in mind. While once-off clean up campaigns can help in the short-term, ultimately communities need to take responsibility for their environment. DWN encourages communities to organise their own clean up days, set up community WASH committees and involve local institutions such as schools to maintain the momentum.
4. Communities need to know the benefits of better hygiene and sanitation. Some of the key messages DWN has developed reveal the importance of a clean environment for preventing diseases such as cholera and Hepatitis E. This information helps motivate communities to take proactive steps to maintain clean public spaces. 
5. Partnerships and sponsorships are available for these activities. National clean up committees, NGOs, private sector, Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, the Ministry of Health and Social Services, local schools, plastic producers, and waste companies are among the many stakeholders that are interested in WASH activities. Our members that are looking to start their own clean up initiatives were encouraged to contact some of these partners for support.
6. Social enterprise models can create a circular economy. DWN has assisted people living in informal settlements to establish small shops, recycling facilities and other enterprises related to WASH. This promotes sustainability, income generation and a circular economy related to sanitation and hygiene. 

These and many other strategies should be considered when planning community clean-ups in rural or urban areas. Taking this approach greatly increases the chances that these cleaned spaces remain clean and that communities can carry out future clean-ups independently. 

This webinar has inspired and empowered the 30 NYCE members that attended to plan and execute clean-up campaigns in their respective regions, and to empower other youth to do the same. The NYCE membership system has several levels that reflect each member’s level of participation in our activities. Attendees of this webinar earned themselves one point each. Those who use what they have learned to organise and execute a clean-up campaign will earn 30 points each. Each year, members will be awarded with a membership certificate that reflects the total number of points that they scored in that year. 

We appreciate Development Workshop Namibia for their valuable contribution to this webinar and look forward to future engagements that will achieve our common goal of cleaner Namibian communities.

If you would like to join the Namibian Youth Chamber of Environment and be part of an environmental movement of young change-makers (18-35 years of age), please fill out the NYCE Membership Form and we will get back to you!