Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world, with large numbers of people lacking access to basic sanitation, but it is the quickest off the mark with the Global Sanitation Fund (GSF). The GSF programme in Madagascar, referred to as the Fonds ’Appui pour l’Assainissement, is now in ull implementation with 17 sub-grantees orking intensively on the ground to improve the sanitation and hygiene situation for the Malagasy people. To date, 23,000 people have gained access to improved toilets because of GSF-supported work in the country.
The Madagascar programme focuses on hygiene education, raising awareness and demand creation in order to have an impact on a national scale. It applies a regional approach that combines promotion of hygiene, Community-led Total Sanitation and sanitation marketing.
The vision for all selected regions is to attain “open defecation free” status, as well as to have all local governments in the targeted areas with a sanitation budget, capacity for sanitation and hygiene promotion, and access to a vibrant private sector that is providing improved sanitation.
Nine regions have been selected to receive large grants in three funding rounds designed to first demonstrate the approach, then achieve geographic balance nationally, and finally, encourage all regions to implement their own programmes. A number of smaller support grants are being awarded to organizations in adjacent regions in order to scale up their existing activities and create a ripple effect in the country as a whole.
Medical Care Development International (MCDI), an international NGO that has been working in Madagascar since 1996, is the Executing Agency responsible for programme administration and implementation. FTHM Consulting, a Malagasy auditing firm, is the GSF Country Programme Monitor (CPM).
Since the programme launch in March 2010, the Programme Coordinating Mechanism (PCM) has been successful in fostering sector collaboration to address the sanitation situation on a national scale and in providing continuous strategic guidance for the programme. The PCM includes representatives from three ministries, national and international NGOs, the
private sector as well as bilateral and UN agencies.
