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A verification survey found that a significantly higher proportion of ultra-poor households had installed latrines and were actually using them than reported by BRAC's own monitoring system.

TitleReport on a study to independently assess latrine coverage and use under BRAC’s WASH II Project in Bangladesh : final report
Publication TypeResearch Report
Year of Publication2015
AuthorsEmory University, Portland State University, International Centre for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh
Pagination54 p. : 16 fig.,9 tab. + 3 appendices (10 p., 8 p. 7 p.)
Date Published04/2015
PublisherEmory University, Center for Global Safe Water
Place PublishedAtlanta, GA, USA
Publication LanguageEnglish
Abstract

This study was commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to verify programmatic results reported by BRAC's large-scale water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) project in Bangladesh.

The study compares data on latrine coverage and use reported by BRAC with the outcomes of a random sample of households. With some exceptions, the study's verification survey compares reasonably well with BRAC's reported results. In general, the Qualitative Information System (QIS) ladder scores generated from the verification sample were higher than those generated BRAC's QIS sample. This could be due to the lapse of time between the two samples and seasonal differences.

The verification survey found that a significantly higher proportion of ultra-poor households were covered and used latrines than reported by BRAC. It also revealed some over-reporting of self-reported latrine use.

Approximately half of all ultra-poor households in surveyed areas reported receiving latrine assistance from BRAC, which is consistent with BRAC reports. While BRAC aims to target only ultra-poor households with direct latrine construction support, a small proportion of non-poor (10%) and poor households (9%) reported receiving support as well. This could be due to misdirection of interventions, miscalculation or recall bias.

The survey applied three different methods to verify latrine use: survey administration (capturing of self-reported use data), direct observation and PLUMs or passive latrine use monitors (infrared sensor devices). Using PLUMS was the most expensive in terms of both administration and equipment rental costs.

The report includes recommendations on the strengthening and harmonising of monitoring systems, incorporation of monitoring indicators to align with BRAC's specified outcome indicators, and systematic re-assessment of wealth category classification on a routine basis.

Citation Key79348
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