T oward the end of open defecation in peri-urban areas of Mongolia Case study on a new social norm By Gilles Fagninou – University of Pennsylvania & UNICEF summer programme 2012

Some Basic statistics … Total population: 2.7 million Under 18: 33.6% Under age of 5: 9.7% Peri-urban population: 26% Land mass: 1.56 million sq km Pop density: 1.6 per sq km Source: as of Dec NSO annual report on Population

Background Mongolia is populated by nomads; One characteristic is that they don’t care about latrines At national level, latrine is used by 54% and in peri-urban areas by less than one out of three Progressively, the proportion of nomadic or semi-nomadic people in Mongolia is decreasing : 60% in 1985 and 30% in 2010 With a growing migration, more than 25% of the population is leaving in peri-urban area Migrants in peri-urban area are coming from all over the country with different background and culture with one thing in common : the nomadic culture and customs

Background

Custom In peri-urban area, the majority of people doesn’t have/use latrine and practice open defecation This is a practice in rural areas without a visible impact on child mortality, but with a growing migration in overcrowded peri urban area the situation is becoming a social issue. The child mortality in peri-urban areas is more than four times the national average (IMR 36 and U5MR 45 per 1000 live births – MICS 2010)

Belief and expectations Normative belief & expectations : Even when they move to city centers, in peri urban area, people still believes that they don’t need latrine People think that no one expects them to use a latrine Attitudes / personal normative beliefs : People believes that household shouldn’t have latrines

Past and current interventions Supply driven interventions Public / private partnership on eco-latrine Community/family empowerment strategy Latrine in schools

Create a social norm A good household should have a latrine (honor code) A household in the community should expect other households to have and use latrines (social expectation matter) Household will build and use latrine because they are convinced that other will do the same (auto-regulate collective behaviour). This will create a kind of interdependence in the community

Target Population -Household living in peri-urban areas – a discussion with the community should lead to the identification of a core group with the 1st level of change agents and a monitoring mechanism; -New migrants will find a strong social norm in place and progressively conform to it -Public declaration: after a consultative process takes place, the community will define when a public declaration will be made to reinforce the norm

Creation of network and incentive -Create a network of communities to share experiences and lessons learnt -Create an incentive to reward the community that has the highest latrine rate per household or using any other performance criteria that the community may find appropriate. -The reward should target the community to strengthen the interdependence and co- responsibility among members of community