In the second week of July of this year, I got an opportunity to participate in the AKVO Flow training jointly organized by SEIU and DWSS, Ministry of Urban Development in Kathmandu. I am Nirmal Adhikari, of Kanchan Nepal from Pokhara. After getting some theoretical as well as practical knowledge about the use of AKVO Flow in collecting the data for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector, I was wondering about its effective use in the field.
Sanitation and Water for All" by 2017! This is the line which you got to hear these days in any WASH programs in Nepal. This is the national target set by the Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan, 2011, the plan which literally changed almost everything in the Sanitation Movement of the country. Looking at the present scenario, Nepal is well forward from the target set by MDG and Master Plan, both in the case of water and sanitation.
World Toilet Day: November, 19 2014
World Toilet Day is a day to take action. It is a day to raise awareness about all people who do not have access to a toilet - despite the human right to water and sanitation.
Of the world’s seven billion people, 2.5 billion people do not have improved sanitation. 1 billion people still defecate in the open. Women and girls risk rape and abuse because they have no toilet that offers privacy.
In Nepal, every year 7,900 children die from diarrhoeal diseases caused by dirty water and poor sanitation. This accounts for a third of all child deaths overall. Only about 40% households use a proper toilet in Nepal (NMIP 2014), helping to cause widespread disease. The majority of people does not have a latrine and have no option but to defecate in the open. Nepal Government is implementing Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan to educate people and increase people's access to the toilet.
Watch Video >> Nepal's sanitation campaign
Communication on key issues in water, sanitation and hygiene need not only to inform, it also needs to inspire and influence decision makers. Communication also needs to contribute to involvement by people from all walks of life. This was the intent emerging from a consultation workshop on the draft WASH Sector Communication Strategy that is being developed as part of the forthcoming Sector Development Plan.
The consultation was organized by the Sector Efficiency Improvement Unit (SEIU) under the Ministry of Urban Development in Entrance Café, Kupondole Height on 14th November 2014. The program was attended by representatives from various organizations working in the communication, information and knowledge management of WASH. Joint Secretary of Ministry of Urban Development Mr. Ram Chandra Devkota spoke about the need of the Sector Development Plan and WASH sector Communication Strategy for improvement on efficiency of sector for better service delivery. He added that SDP and communication strategy are closely looking at sector vision which is improving public health and living standard by providing safe water and sustainable sanitation to achieve national target of "Sanitation and Water for All" by 2017.
The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) and the WHO Country Office for Nepal hosted a first meeting of Technical Advisory Group and the International Steering Committee in Kathmandu on November 12-14, 2014. Nepal, Bangladesh, Ethiopia and Tanzania. DfID is funding the project from 2013 to 2017. Mr. Arjun Kumar Karki, Secretary of MoUD made opening remarks as chief guest at the opening session of meetings, where Dr. Lin Aung, WHO Representative to Nepal, and Mr. Ram Chandra Devkota, Joint Secretary of MoUD and Chair of Project Coordination Committee on Climate Change and WASH also spoke. On the afternoon of November 12, Mr. Guy Howard, WASH Team Leader at DfID, HQ made a presentation on Climate Resilient WASH, which was attended by a wide circle of stakeholders working on Climate Change and WASH in Nepal.