Disposal of Child Faeces

Even in households that have access to latrines, children's faeces are often not disposed of safely and pose a threat to both children and adults' health. This indicator therefore assesses the proportion of caretakers who dispose of the children's faeces into improved sanitation facility.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of primary caretakers (mainly mothers).

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: Can you please show me the place where you usually dispose of your children's faeces?

A1:

1) put into any type of improved sanitation facility (see comment below)

2) throw them in the field/ bush/ river

3) bury them in the soil

4) leave them with other rubbish

5) other - specify: ............................   

Calculate the indicator's value by dividing the number of respondents who reported to dispose of their children's faeces to an improved sanitation facility (see below) by the total number of interviewed respondents and multiplying the result by 100. 

1) There are only two ways of child faeces disposal: safe and unsafe. Faeces are disposed in a safe way when they are put in an improved sanitation facility (pit latrine with slab, ventilated improved pit latrine, flush/ pour toilet connected to a sewer system or a septic tank, composting toilet).

2) Especially when the respondent says that s/he disposes of the children's faeces into (any type of) improved sanitation facility, it is important that the data collector goes and sees whether 1) the sanitation facility is really an improved model; and 2) whether it has signs of being used. 

3) Ensure that all data collectors have a good understanding of what "an improved sanitation facility" means and are able to recognize it. 

4) It is recommended that this question is asked before the data collectors starts asking about other sanitation-related topics. Otherwise it is likely that the respondent will reply what s/he thinks the "correct answer" is.

5) Ask this question only to households with children younger than 3 years. Often, the younger the children are, the more likely it is that the caretakers do not dispose of her/his faeces in a safe way.