Zambezia government and SNV launch campaign for resilient latrines
Zambezia, 19 August 2022 - The Government of Zambezia Province, with the support of SNV in Mozambique and funded by UK aid from the UK government, launched a three-month behaviour change campaign in Ile district, Socone Administrative Post, to promote the construction of safe and resilient latrines, reinforcing the SANTOLIC (Community-Led Total Sanitation) approach promoted by the government in rural communities.
Namiruku - Build a latrine that enlivens is a campaign that encourages the manufacture of resilient latrines. Namiruku, is borrowed from the Elomwe language, which refers to a wise person or someone who thinks in the long term.
Sanitation theatre group during launch
Governor of Zambezia greeted at launch in Ile district, Mozambique
As part of the campaign, community workshops, roadshows and plays, and promotional videos (including an instructional video on how to build a resilient latrine) are underway to raise community awareness on how to become a Namiruku – an individual who possesses a resilient latrine and is therefore a role model in the community.
The three-month campaign will be implemented in the Districts of Ile and Alto Molócue. By November 2022, the government-SNV partnership aims to convince at least 5,000 families to build resilient latrines, construct resilient latrines for 4,000 families, and deliver resilient latrines to at least 20 per cent of families with members with physical and/or visual impairments.
Governor of Zambezia admires campaign materials during launch celebrations
Campaign materials displayed during the launch
This campaign supports the government in addressing two major challenges uncovered by an SNV formative research conducted in Zambezia province in 2020. These are, (i) mobilising families to abandon the practice of open defecation, and (ii) improving the construction quality of traditional latrines, many of which are unable to withstand the rain or termite infestation, leading to latrine collapse. It is expected that, by the end of the campaign, about 10 per cent of the districts’ populations will have access to resistant latrines; providing the much needed evidence to motivate neighbours and neighbouring areas to upgrade their latrines.
A Namiruku latrine in Mozambique
The Namiruku - Build a latrine that enlivens campaign is supported by the UK Government and is implemented as part of the Government of Mozambique’s National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (PRONASAR).
For more information, contact:
Segelina Filipe
Marketing Communications Officer
SNV in Mozambique