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Initiatives
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for all Campaign (WASH) in Nepal
Introduction to WASH
The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) is a leading international organization that enhances collaboration in the water supply and sanitation sector specifically in order to attain universal coverage of water and sanitation services for poor people around the world. WSSCC was founded in 1990 at the end of the International Decade for Water Supply and Sanitation in 1989. The Council operates with a mandate from the United Nations General Assembly. Its mission is to accelerate the achievement of sustainable water, sanitation and waste management services to all people, with special attention to the unserved poor, by enhancing collaboration among developing countries and external support agencies and through concerted action programmes.
The Water and Sanitation for All (WASH) campaign was launched at the International Conference on Freshwater in Bonn in 2001. The first phase of the campaign focused on promoting the establishment of a sanitation target which was finally set at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002. The second and current phase of the campaign is focusing on translating this international political commitment into practical operational goals at the county level, sustaining momentum and monitoring progress towards the MDGs.
The Nepal WASH Group was formed in 2003 to coordinate the WASH campaign in Nepal.
Nepal WASH Group Activities in 2003
Summary
WASH activities began in Nepal in 2003 on a small scale. The emphasis was on
- building an alliance of sectoral organizations working together on sanitation issues
- increasing government accountability by disseminating to communities information on national sanitation policies and government commitments in achieving Millennium Development Targets and establishing mechanisms to feedback their views to decision makers
The Nepal WASH group
A Nepal WASH group was formed with members from each of the key sectoral organizations (Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Fund Development Board, WaterAid Nepal, UNICEF, World Health Organization, and Nepal Water for Health). The group adopted a common logo and acts as an editorial panel for the quarterly publication " Pani ra Sarsafai".
Pani ra Sarsafi - a quarterly publication coordinated by sector organizations with a heavy sanitation emphasis
The NEWAH quarterly publication was adapted to a sectoral publication with a heavy sanitation focus. This was done by changing the name from "Pani" to "Pani ra Sarsafai" (water and sanitation) and by adding another 4 pages for material on sanitation. The circulation was increased from 500 to 1,500 copies per issue and these are distributed through the WASH group to grass-root level organizations, local government institutions and NEWAH's partner NGOs.
Please click links below:
Year 5_issue 1/2 |
Year 4_issue 3/4 |
Year 4_issue 2 |
Year 3_issue 3 |
Year 3_issue 2 |
Year 3_issue 1
Summaries of government sanitation policies in simple Nepali language and in pictures
The Draft National Sanitation Policy and the Five Year Environmental Action Plan were identified as the key government policy documents regarding sanitation. Usually knowledge of such policies is limited to government and some sectoral agencies only. These documents were summarized and translated into simple Nepali language. In order that communities could understand the policies the 10 main policy points were identified and pictures were made to represent these points.
Documenting and disseminating community voices on sanitation issues
The summaries of policies in Nepali and pictures were used by NEWAH field staff to facilitate discussions on the sanitation policies and other sanitation issues in the plains of Nepal where sanitation coverage is lowest. In order to build the skills of field staff to facilitate discussions with communities on the sanitation policies and to better document community voices in a way that is interesting for others to read, creative writing workshops were organized. These were held in two phases and were facilitated by a professional journalist. Thirty-five staff attended these workshops. This proved to be a very popular training and NEWAH are planning to incorporate this into their regular HRD planning. This will mean that in future more staff will have the ability to document and disseminate their work. Fourteen articles have been written from staff participating in the first training. These writings were disseminated through 'Paani ra Saarsafai'.
Calculating the implications of the Millennium Development Target on sanitation
Nepal has committed to the Millennium Development Target (MDT) of halving the proportion of people without access to sanitation by the year 2015. Such commitments are easy to make at international conferences but the implications are not always understood. We have calculated the implications of the targets for Nepal as a whole and for the districts in which community discussions were held.
Implications of the Millennium Development Target on sanitation in the districts where community discussions were hold
|
Current Situation |
To Achieve MDG target |
| 2001 |
2015 |
No. of latrines to build |
| District |
hh |
No. of latrines |
coverage |
estimated hh |
no.
of latrines |
MDG
target |
total |
each
year |
each
month |
| Kailali |
94,430 |
36,906 |
39% |
119,565 |
83,695 |
70% |
46,789 |
3,342 |
279 |
| Bardiya |
59,569 |
16,347 |
27% |
75,425 |
48,272 |
64% |
31,925 |
2,280 |
190 |
| Banke |
67,269 |
33,882 |
50% |
68,413 |
51,309 |
75% |
17,427 |
1,245 |
104 |
| Morang |
167,907 |
69,939 |
41% |
212,599 |
150,946 |
71% |
81,007 |
5,786 |
482 |
| Siraha |
98,754 |
18,730 |
19% |
125,040 |
74,399 |
60% |
55,669 |
3,976 |
331 |
| Mahottari |
94,229 |
16,785 |
18% |
119,310 |
70,393 |
59% |
53,608 |
3,829 |
319 |
| Rautahat |
88,162 |
15,150 |
17% |
111,628 |
65,302 |
58% |
50,152 |
3,582 |
299 |
| Chitwan |
92,863 |
73,412 |
79% |
117,581 |
105,234 |
89% |
|
2,273 |
189 |
| Population
growth rate estimated at 1.7% |
In order to meet the MDT in Nepal approximately 14,000 latrines need to be constructed each month for the next 12 years. These data are being disseminated at the community and national level.
WASH journalist competition
NEWAH coordinated advertising of the international WASH journalist competition by placing adverts in 4 national newspapers.
WASH journalist training
One Nepali journalist attended the training organized by WASH in Hydrebad, India.
Lessons learned from activities in 2003
Working on WASH activities in 2003 we learnt a number of lessons. We tried to respond to these lessons when designing the 2004 activities.
- We need to develop more partnerships with the media in order to get our messages out.
- Many organizations are undertaking various activities regarding sanitation. These can be brought together under the WASH umbrella.
- Monitoring of MDTs is not being undertaken and this gap needs to be filled.
Nepal WASH Group Activities in 2004
Journalist Orientation
In 2003 the Nepal WASH group identified the very low media coverage on sanitation and hygiene issues as a weakness in the sector. One of the reasons for low sanitation coverage in the media is the lack of awareness about this subject amongst journalists. To address this gap, groups of journalists were oriented on sanitation and hygiene related issues. The orientations, jointly organized by the Nepal WASH Group and the Nepal Forum for Environmental Journalists, tried to stimulate interest in the subject, make interesting material available and sensitize participants through field visits. Four orientations were held in different regions of Nepal and 74 journalists participated
Please click here to read an article about Journalist Orientation
Media Campaign
During March 2004 a media campaign was organized to coincide with National Sanitation Week. A competition was organized to incentivise journalists to write about sanitation which resulted in a great increase in the coverage of sanitation issues in the press, radio and television networks. For the first time journalists, many of whom had taken part in the journalist orientations, began to write candidly about urine and feces, breaking the taboo surrounding these issues. To give the campaign continuity a Feature Service on sanitation issues is currently being organized in partnership with Sancharika Samuha.
Comic Sanitation Calendar
WASH produced a calendar for the Nepali year 2061 with satirical cartoons conveying sanitation and hygiene related messages. Three thousand copies were produced and distributed to communities, local government and local NGOs throughout Nepal.
Model Total Sanitation District
There continues to be much discussion on the MDTs of halving the proportion of people without access to water and sanitation by 2015. At the same time the number of years to achieve the target is getting smaller there are only 11 years left. It has been estimated in Nepal that 14,000 latrines need to be constructed each month between now and 2015 if the MDT is to be met. The Nepal WASH Group feels that it is time to move from commitment to action and demonstrate that total district sanitation is achievable by agencies working in coordination through a district level plan. The group is planning a process to achieve total sanitation in a district in a relatively short time span. It is hoped that this process will act as a model for use in other districts.
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