Recently, I got the opportunity to take part in a rally to put pressure on the Government to take the issues of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) more seriously. The rally was part of the South Asia Regional campaign on Sanitation. held on 19 March in Kathmandu.
The campaign was joined by school students, teachers, journalists, representatives from different non-governmental organisations (NGOs), Members of Parliament from countries in the South Asia region and high level government authorities from Nepal. The rally urged the South Asian governments to keep their promises on sanitation. Two members of the UK House of the Lords were also present and walked together with more than thousand other participants to show support for the cause.
I was amazed and encouraged to see a significant number of people with disabilities present at the campaign as people with disabilities are often not represented by issue-based organisations. But WaterAid in Nepal, who co-hosted the campaign, are committed to including people with disabilities in campaign activities. They invited the National Federation for the Disabled, Nepal (NFDN) and the umbrella organisation of all disability public organisations (DPOs) to the events.
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Universal access to sanitation and drinking water for all: municipal areas of Nepal by 2017
The fact sheet prepared together with Muncipal Association Nepal (MuAN) includes basic water supply and sanitation coverage of 58 municipalities in Nepal. The municipalities in Nepal are ranked by access to sanitation. The sheet further include government commitments on municipal access to WASH services together.
More – Click here for our link of the week – 27 November
Public toilets in pathetic state: Study
Poor condition of public toilets in the Kathmandu Valley is repelling people from using them, an NGO survey said today. The municipalities are far behind when it comes to fulfilling the growing demand of public toilets and urinals, said NGO Forum for Urban Water and Sanitation, making public its survey on ‘Public Latrines in Kathmandu valley’on the occasion of ‘World Toilet Day’.
More – Click here for our link of the week – 20 November
Why care whether all Nepalis have access to toilets or not?
From experience, we have learnt that not doing something about ensuring toilet access is likely to lead to people’s deaths, especially those of poor women and children. For evidence, consider what happened in the hills of Doti district in far western Nepal only this past summer.
On the 1st of June, an outbreak of diarrhea was reported in Baglek VDC in Doti. Affected people started visiting the local sub-health post. In a matter of days, it was clear that the diarrheal outbreak was not confined only to Baglek. Patients from adjacent clusters of villages started streaming into the overwhelmed health post, which had neither adequate beds nor enough nurses.
By the time the health post reported 116 cases, including three deaths, to the district health officers, the diarrheal disease had spread to 10 surrounding VDCs and to Dipayal and Silguri, the two towns that lie on the hilly highway. It was clear that what Doti faced was not an ordinary diarrheal ailment that would run its course and die out. (more…)
Press release – 22 March 2012
KATHMANDU: WaterAid is marking Nepal National Water Week 2012 by supporting The World Walks for Water and Sanitation global campaign. Walks are taking place in fourteen districts in the country, with 8,000 people walking country-wide and over 300,000 globally.
The campaign is running ahead of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership high level meeting, on 20th of April 2012, bringing together Government Ministers from around the world. WaterAid will be calling on them to act with urgency to end the water and sanitation crisis.
An art competition is being organised by Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Nepal (FEDWASUN) in Makwanpur district today. Tomorrow (23 March) the Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (NAST) is organising a walk in Kathmandu. This will be followed by a seminar on water and food security at NAST Auditorium in Lalitpur, where papers on water and food security will be presented by academicians and experts. (more…)
Across Nepal various initiatives are taking place, from walks for water and sanitation, rallies, interactions, seminar and media activities on this World Water Day. All of this will help to support to the Sanitation and Water for All high level meeting in Washington on 20 April.
Nepal is also marking “The World Walks for Water and Sanitation” global campaign, which kicked off on 17 March and has currently over 340,000 people registered! Walks are happening in fourteen districts namely Chitwan (25 March), Makwanpur (22 March), Gorkha (21 March), Doti (22 March), Baglung (22 March), Dolakha (22 March), Siraha (22 March), Bardiya (22 March), Khotang (22 March), Pyuthan (22 March), Mugu (22 March), Dhading (25 March), Ilam (23 March) and including Kathmandu (23 March), the capital of Nepal. Around 8,000 people will be walking countrywide. The walks in the thirteen districts are organising by Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users Nepal (FEDWASUN). The walks will be followed by interactions in the district headquarters. Art competition will also be organised in the Makwanpur district which FEDWASUN district branch is leading.
In the capital Kathmandu, Nepal Academy of Science & Technology (NAST) is organising the walk which will be followed by the seminar on water and food security at NAST Auditorium in Lalitpur on Friday the 23 March. Water and food security related seven papers will be presented by academicians and experts in the seminar.
The walks, interactions and the seminar are organised in coordination with WaterAid in Nepal. (more…)
