Sanitation Updates

A popular WASH calendar has been produced in Nepal since 2004/2005. On the occasion of the International Year of Sanitation, 2008 the government desk of the International Year of Sanitation under the Steering Committee for National Sanitation Action suggested to increase distribute WASH Calendar more widely. With the support of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and WaterAid Nepal, 27,500 copies were published and distributed throughout the country to Government, Nepal WASH Group members and other stakeholders.

More cartoons are available on the WSSCC web site

“The Nepal WASH Coalition is able to leverage media coverage and establish the ties needed to bring lasting change in the sanitation and water supply situation in Nepal. It has successfully increased coverage of sanitation issues in the media, educated communities and villages on the benefits of good hygiene practices, and has been able to convince the Government to endorse the Sanitation Model District Approach programme. The Nepal WASH Coalition also encourages sector stakeholders to come together as a group, in order to voice needs and suggest changes. As it grows in influence, the Nepal WASH Coalition brings much needed attention to a sector that is often shrouded in stigma.”

This is the conclusion of the May 2008 WASH case study on Nepal, one of a series published by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC).

The 9th National Sanitation Week was celebrated in Nepal from 1-7 June 2008 in support of the International Year of Sanitation 2008.

The Department of Water Supply and Sewerage said the objective of the Sanitation Week was to promote the construction of latrines and to declare open defecation free zones. The government plans to provide 60% population with toilets within three years.

During the Sanitation Week open defecation free zones were declared in several villages: Rajyauda and Dola villages in Dadeldhura district; Jhauwabari village in Morang; Dulalthok village in Kavre; and Rajdevi village in Makawanpur.

Other activities held to celebrate the Sanitation Week included:

The Bagmati Peace Festival which promoted the clean-up of Bagmati River and also celebrated the transition of Nepal into a Federal Republic

• A street drama named Paribartan to raise awareness about sanitation was held in Dhulikhel, Kavrepalanchok District
• A musical procession with street drama and a song promoting sanitation and health organised by the Community Drinking Water and Sanitation Office in Rolpa
• A Sanitation Week Rally in Sisakhani, Kavre district organised by the Education Development Primary School Sisakhani and Nagbeli Chhap Drinking Water and Sanitation Users’ Committee

This web site provides background information, resources and news about the International Year of Sanitation in Nepal, in both English and Nepali. It is maintained by the Steering Committee for National Sanitation Action (SCNSA). The SNCSA is an apex body, chaired by the Director General of the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) and comprising of concerned line Ministries, Donors, I/NGOs and private sector.

Traditional coverage of access to basic amenities like water and sanitation has inadvertently excluded the needs of the disabled.

Creating user-friendly water and sanitation services for the disabled: the experience of WaterAid Nepal and its partners, a discussion paper by WaterAid Nepal outlines the problems faced by the disabled in the country in accessing water and sanitation services.

The importance of disabled-friendly latrines for dignity and social inclusion is illustrated by this story from the WaterAid study:

“Hari Bahadur Sapkota [left, photo Anita Pradhan, WaterAid Nepal], a resident of Maalika VDC, Banglung, Nepal, is 52. He has been physically impaired by paralysis in both his legs. He had been married three times but all his wives abandoned him. He told us that one of the main reasons his wives left him was that they could not share his plate for meals as he used to crawl and rest his hand on the latrine while defecating. As a result his wives considered him to be unclean. With no visible solution, they left him. However, with the installation of a commode in this latrine, which allows him to sit more comfortably while defecating, as well as keeping his hands away from the pan, Mr Sapkota is no longer considered dirty. In fact, due to his increased hygiene practices, he has been entrusted with the responsibility of cooking for his entire family, while other members earn an income”.

Kathmandu: This is summer time. This is the season of diseases like diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid. But, hospitals in Kathmandu have been witnessing lesser number of dysentery, cholera, jaundice and typhoid patients during the past few summers. The only water-borne disease whose number of cases still keeps going up is diarrhoea.

[...]

Dr. Mahendra Bahadur Bista, Director of Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Hospital said, “Eighty percent of the people who suffered from diarrhoea are found to be careless in matters of personal hygiene, drinking water, and food.” Bista said that lack of good water supply is the major problem in the present context. With the beginning of this year’s summer season, 183 cases of diarrhea have already been registered at Sukraraj Infectious Disease Hospital, Teku.

Director of Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) Bhushan Tuladhar said, “Lack of proper sanitation and carelessness about diarrhoea infection during the rainy season is leading to the increase in the number of diarrhea patients.”

Read more: Shreejana Shrestha, Kathmandu Post / NGO Forum, 11 May 2008

Ghorahi: A dalit [low caste] settlement in Aspari of Dhikapur-6 is becoming a model in the district in terms of sanitation. All the households in the settlement have constructed concrete toilets after the Drinking Water and Sanitation Division Office Dang provided loan assistance to construct toilets.

A local Sita Ram Bika said, “We used to defecate in roads and lanes only in the mornings or night due to financial crisis to construct toilet.” “We got great relief after construction of toilets. Now we can defecate whenever we like,” said Pyari Lal Bika, a local.

Read more: Rajdhani / NGO Forum, May 4, 2008

Hetauda: The Water Treatment Plant, constructed two years ago by Environment Area Assistance Programme (ESPS)* with financial aid worth Rs. 550 million from the Danish Government, is not in full operation. Only 15 per cent capacity of the treatment plant is under operation as some of the big industries producing wastewater in the industrial area are closed and some industries have not constructed underground sewerage to send their wastewater in the plant. Most of the industries connected with the plant produce little wastewater.

Read more: Kantipur / NGO Forum, 23 Apr 2008

* “Environment Sector Programme Support (ESPS) came to an end on 30 June 2005 as the government to goverment agreement expired. However, Danida confirmed its support for the operation and maintenance of Waste Treatment Plant (WWTP) and Air Quality Management (AQM) Components of ESPS in a sliding scale of 70%, 50% and 30% for their sustainability for the period of three years i.e. until February 2009″. [Source: Embassy of Denmark, Kathamandu]

Kathmandu: Many passers-by walking in the city defecate in the open. Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) stated that over 50 per cent passers by defecate on the footpaths despite having the facility of public toilets. “Four years ago, about 1100 people used to use public toilets every day. Number of toilet users have decreased by half at present,” said Rabin Man Shrestha, Chief of Environment Department at KMC.

The KMC stated that the tendency of random defecation has increased due to lack of awareness on sanitation, high fee for using public toilet and lack of knowledge about public toilets in the people who enter Kathmandu city for the first time from different parts of the country.

Read more: NGO Forum / Kantipur, 19 April 2008

On 5 March 2008 the Resource Centre Network Nepal (RCNN) launched the CLTS Toolkit booklet during the Symposium on ‘Sanitation Approaches and Technologies in Nepal’.

The booklet focuses on Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) practices and awareness raising to be used by facilitators in the communities.

Inspired by the success of the approach in Bangladesh, CLTS  was first initiated in December 2003 in Nepal in Karkidanda communities of Dhading district through the facilitation of the NGO, Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH).

Download the CLTS Toolkit (in Nepali) here.

Read more: RCNN Newsletter, 28 Mar 2008