This course has been developed to improve rural sanitation programmes and contribute to the worldwide drive to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It is intended for people working or planning to work in or with the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector.

Globally, over 2 billion people still defecate in the open and the majority live in rural areas. Rural sanitation programmes aim to increase sustained access to and use of toilets and decrease the rate of open defecation - but there are many and varied challenges to face. This course gives guidance on rural sanitation programming to help practitioners overcome those challenges, which in turn will lead to better and more sustainable programme outcomes.

The course has been developed in collaboration between WaterAid, UNICEF and Plan International, with support from The Open University. It is based on Guidance on Programming for Rural Sanitation available here https://washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/rethinking-rural-sanitation  

If you would like to claim a Statement of Participation for completing this course you’ll need to enrol so that we can track and record your progress. Enrolling is free, you only need to enrol once and it will just take a few minutes. Click the Sign up/Sign in button above. When you return to the course, sign in and enrol, then click on each study session link to access the course content.

Printable PDFs are provided for off-line access of the course content, including individual PDFs for each of the study sessions. However please note that the PDFs do not offer full functionality for the activities in the study sessions and you will need to refer back to the online course for the activity ‘reveal’ information.

Course learning outcomes

After you have studied this course you should be able to:

  • Recognise the need for rural sanitation programmes to be adaptable and context-specific.
  • Identify the information needed to analyse the country and local contexts for rural sanitation programmes.
  • Describe the essential components in the design of equitable and sustainable rural sanitation programmes at scale.
  • Assess the suitability of different rural sanitation programme designs in light of specific country and local situations.
  • Explain the importance of working with different stakeholders in the planning and implementation of equitable and sustainable rural sanitation programmes at scale.

Contact information

If you have any comments or questions about the course please contact Michael Emerson Gnilo WASH Specialist, WASH Section, UNICEF NYHQ.

For questions about Agora or any technical issues, please contact agora@unicef.org