EDITORIAL

In 15 October we celebrated Global Hand Washing Day, to raise awareness on an activity that is so simple yet so critical for improving public health. Handwashing with soap at critical times can reduce the incidence of diarrhoea by 45% percent and it is by far the most cost effective public health intervention we can invest in. We need to intensify our efforts to ensure that soap is accessible to all households and the habit of washing hands with soap is adopted by all, particularly the children. Lets all join hands for this nobel cause.

“DIGNITY”- IN THE MAKING

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:: ENPHO NEWS ::

ENPHO CELEBRATES GLOBAL HAND WASHING CAMPAIGN 2009

On 15th October-09, ENPHO celebrated Global Hand Washing Day, in collaboration with various partners. GHD was celebrated at Gundu VDC, Dhulikhel Municipality, Lalitpur Municipality and Ratna Park area of Kathmandu, mobilizing 85 Pachim Paila Youth volunteers, most of whom were public health students. The GHD campaign was celebrated for one week. Lifebuoy Company sponsored 7400 soaps for distribution to participating students. One day Interaction program on GHD was held with 36 schools’ teachers in different locations. Orientation program of Health and Hygiene focusing on hand washing with soap was carried out to about 6,000 students of 36 schools. Hand washing demonstration programme was done in 37 schools and by guest celebrities, CA Member Hon. Nabindra Raj Joshi and senior journalist Bhirab Risal at Shanti Batika (Ratna Park) at the same time in 15th October.

Similarly, as part of the “SWASTHA” Project ENPHO also organized several activities to celebrate Global Hand Washing day in Chitwan, Butwal, Gulariya and Tikapur. This included a mass rally by Sri Rastriya Primary School in Patihani VDC, Hand washing demonstration at Lions Chowk in Bharatpur Municipality, Hand washing campaign at 5 schools of Patihani and 4 schools of Sharadanagar VDC in Chitwan, Mass rally jointly by Manav Gyan Higher Secondary School and Janata Secondary School of Ramnagar in Butwal; and Hand washing campaigns in the communities of Khale Guleria, Surajpur and Purano Gabisa tole of Guleria Municipality, and Jamuna tole, Samitipur, Shivaganga tole, pashupati tole and Shantinagar of Tikapur Municipality.

ENHANCING LINKAGES FOR SUSTAINABLE SANITATION

A workshop on “Sustainable Sanitation in Nepal: The Way Ahead” organized by Nepal Node for Sustainable Sanitation, ENPHO and Resource Centre Network Nepal (RCNN) on 23rd October 2009 stressed on the need to enhance linkages with other sectors like health, agriculture and education to effectively promote sustainable sanitation in Nepal. During the workshop, Prof. Dr. Thor Axel Stenstorm from Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), who is also an advisor to World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva gave a keynote presentation and appreciated the sustainable sanitation initiatives through the governmental and non-governmental sector in Nepal. Concluding his presentation he emphasized on the need to think sanitation from public health perspective in order to establish a long term solution to sanitation need of the people. Representatives from government, non-government, academia, UN agencies, bilateral agencies and businesses participated in the workshop.

The presentations made during the workshop are available online at http://www.nepal.watsan.net/page/488.

ORGANIC FARMING FOR URBAN ENVIRONMENT IMPROVEMENT IN DHULIKHEL

ENPHO has made agreement with District Agriculture Development Office (DADO), Kavre for the “Promotion of Organic vegetable production” in Dhulikhel Municipality from September 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010. In this regard, four-day training on organic vegetable farming was organized to 43 people under the leadership of Mr. Ishwori Prasad Pandey, Senior Agriculture Development Officer, DADO. The training mainly focused on type of crops appropriate for planting and harvesting in different seasons, type of land, soil required, seedling method, different techniques to increase production by applying organic fertilizer, precaution method to protect crops and increasing market channels. As a result, a group of 25 locals from Suwal tole are doing vegetable farming in 7 ropanies of land.

MEETING ON PARTICIPATORY WATSAN PLAN

Participatory WATSAN Plans are being prepared for 7 municipalities (i.e. Ratnanagar, Bharatpur, Butwal, Ramgram, Siddharthnagar, Gulariya and Tikapur) and 3 small towns (i.e. Kawaswati, Bardaghat and Sunawal) as an integral part of the SWASTHA project. After field visits and information collection from stakeholders, ENPHO has prepared a draft report for Butwal municipality which was discussed at a sharing meeting on 21 October 2009. Altogether 20 representatives from UN Habitat, Practical Action Nepal, Municipality Association of Nepal (MuAN) and ENPHO participated. Presentation on the progress of Watsan plan preparation and draft report was done by Dr. Shirish Singh. Many valuable suggestions and comments were collected from participants.

TOT FOR ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

Two ENPHO staff participated in the 6th National Organic Agriculture ToT program organized by Ecological Service Centre (Ecoscentre) in Chitwan from 6-15 October, 2009. The training aimed at developing capable human resources to promote organic agriculture (OA) at community level and share experiences on OA among the participants from the various parts of the country. The training covered different principles and practical aspects of organic agriculture such as definition, concept, history and scope of organic agriculture, impacts of chemicals in human health and ecosystem, soil and water management, organic pest management, market management and product chain, inspection, certification and Nepal standard of OA. ENPHO staff also made presentation on urine application.

SAFE WATER ZONE IN BHARATPUR AND NEPALGUNJ

Safe water Zone has been declared in Bharatpur and Nepalgunj municipalities. On 10 Oct, Nawajyoti Tole, a community with 85 households in Bharatpur was declared Safe Water Zone (using CS filter 51HH, Candle filter 16HH, boiling 10HH, SODIS 8HH). Similarly Kalika tole and Shantinagar tole samiti of Nepalgunj municipality were declared Safe Water Zones on Oct 13 having 45 households and 40 households respectively using SODIS, candle filter and boiled water. Safe water zone is a community where each and every household has been using at least one Household Water Treatment (HWT) options to ensure use of safe drinking water.

AGREEMENT WITH NRN CANADA FOR PASCHIM PAAILA

ENPHO signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Non-Resident Nepalese of Canada to promote safe water and sustainable sanitation in the village of Maintada in Surkhet as part of the Paschim Paaila campaign. Based on this MOU, which was signed by Navaraj Gurung, Chairman of NRN Canada, and Bhushan Tuladhar, Executive Director of ENPHO, NRN Canada and ENPHO will jointly develop projects and raise funds to implement the project. A team from ENPHO, NRN Canada also visited the proposed project site to consult with key stakeholders and assess the feasibility of the project.

PARTICIPATIONS/PRESENTATIONS

• Ms. Srijana Shakya and Mr. Kashi Kant Thakur participated in ‘Sixth National Organic Agriculture TOT Program’ organized by Ecological Service Centre (Ecoscentre) at Gaidakot, Nawalparasi from 6-15 October, 2009.
• Bipin Dangol, Program Manager ENPHO, participated 4 days kick off meeting cum workshop on “Sustainable Sanitation and Water Resources Management Network Asia – Putting Sanitation in focus” at Pune, India from 12-15 October, 2009. The program was jointly organized by seecon international and Ecosan Service Foundation India. During the program Mr. Dangol shared ENPHO’s activities on sustainable sanitation and Integrated Water Resource Management. ENPHO has signed an agreement with Seecon International to implement the project in Nepal. The main outcome of the project will be to consolidate and share knowledge, experiences regarding sustainable sanitation & integrated water resource management through simple, user friendly toolbox.
• Mr. Makhan Maharjan (Sr. Program Manager), Ms. Padmaja Shrestha (Program Manager), Mr. Bipin Dangol (Program Manager) and Ms. Biju Dangol, Program Officer attended the “Interaction programme on HIV&AIDS and WATASN” on 26th October, UN Conference Hall, UN House” organized by UN-HABITAT. The main objective was to share the issues of HIV & AIDS and WATSAN and linking HIV & AIDS in WATSAN program.
• Bhushan Tuladhar, Coordinator of Climate Change Network Nepal (CCNN) and Executive Director of ENPHO, made a presentation at a workshop organized by CCNN to discuss latest developments in the climate change negotiations following the Bangkok meeting and prior to the Barcelona intersession on 26 October.
• On 29 October, Bhushan Tuladhar made a presentation at a panel discussion on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction organized by Action Aid during its Regional Meeting.
• Bhushan Tuladhar attended the BORDA Annual Partners Meeting in Livingston, Zambia from 11 to 14 October. He also visited the Pestalotsi School in Lusaka to learn about the Decentralized Wastewater Treatment System established there.

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:: LOCAL NEWS ::

SCHOOLS, HEALTH FACILITIES GET WATER PURIFICATION MATERIALS

The Public Health Section of Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC), Environment and Public Health Organisation and Urban Environment Management Society today provided drinking water purification materials to public schools and health clinics in Lalitpur as a part of Partnership for Safe Water Campaign, supported by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and Bottlers Nepal on the occasion of World Hand Washing Day 2009. The day is celebrated on October 15. The underprivileged people in the urban areas were given away the materials so as to provide them with safe drinking water and sanitation facilities.

The water purification materials include water filters, SODIS bottles and Piyus to public schools, clinics and public health offices in 22 wards of Lalitpur. Binod Prakash Singh, executive officer, LSMC, said that people were still ignorant about the sanitation measures undertaken. Maheshwor Sharma of the Lalitpur District Education Office said schools should make children aware about sanitation.
Source:thehimalayantimes, 14 Oct

NEPALI TO TAKE CLIMATE MESSAGE TO US

As a part of the call for action on climate change, Pemba Dorje Sherpa, record holder for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest plans to meet US President Barack Obama next week regarding the crucial number 350, which denotes the safe upper limit of Carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere. Earlier this month, Sherpa handed over the banner-"350-Save Our Himalayas''-to an expedition heading for the summit. He is leaving for the US on November 7 to meet Obama with help from 'Friends of the Earth', a US-based organisation working on climate change. "I am positive I will get to meet Obama as it is not a personal message I want to deliver. I want to convey a message about a global issue called climate change and urge him to act on it," Sherpa said. Meanwhile, as part of a campaign against impacts of climate change, people across the globe joined hands for a global day of climate action and sent the message of 350 to all world leaders on October 24, 2009. On the same day, communities gathered at thousands of places around the world to draw attention to the need for a dramatic international agreement to reduce carbon emissions. The current CO2 level in our atmosphere, which stands at 390 ppm, poses a threat to the Himalayas and the livelihood of all in Nepal. At present, leaders from more than 150 countries are involved in a growing movement to set 350 ppm as the benchmark for international action on climate change.
Source: ekantipur.com, 14 Oct

DIARRHOEA: A KILLER OF CHILDREN

Second Global Handwashing Day (SGHWD) was observed today across the nation amidst a variety of programmes. In an event organised in the capital to mark the day, Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Physical Planning and Works said that the new government would ensure water and sanitation as fundamental rights of every citizen in the upcoming constitution. “The practice of washing hands with soap has lesson due to lack of awareness among people,” Minister Gachhadar said. He underlined the need for a public-private partnership in raising such awareness. He, however, acknowledged that the government was not able to fulfill the need of safe drinking water in all parts of the country. Gillian Mellsop, country representative, UNICEF, said “Globally, more than 3.5 million children under five years are dying every year due to diarrhoea and pneumonia”. Citing studies, she said that 10,500 children under five years die of diarrhoeal disease in Nepal and a simple act of washing hands with soap and water could reduce the incidence of diarrhoeal cases by 50 per cent. “Global handwashing has been globally recognised as simple life saving procedure,” she said. Underlining the need to spread the message among all Nepalis, she said children could be effective medium to bring about changes in their behavior and everyday practices.
Source: www.thehimalayantimes.com,16 Oct

A VILLAGE SETS EXAMPLE IN WASTE MANAGEMENT

People of Shreekhandapur village in Dhulikhel have proved that waste is not a problem, but a solution for alternative sources of energy and waste treatment. In a bid to generate biogas for meeting the local energy need and to treat household waste water before discharging it into the river, a community-based waste water treatment plant has been set up in the village. The plant aims to benefit more than 3,000 people. The idea was conceptualized when sewage from Banepa polluted the Punyamata River affecting public health. The establishment of the plant was a joint effort of the locals, municipality and UN Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT). The treatment plant was set up with six horizontal reed bed treatment systems (wetlands) of 175 cubic meters and two biogas reactors of 75 cubic meters in the 4 ropanis of land provided by the municipality worth Rs 1.7 million. UN-HABITAT provided a sum of Rs 5.3 million in aid. ENPHO provided technical assistance to locals for maintenance of the plant. Locals worked free of cost for the construction and contributed a sum of Rs 1million.

Being environment-friendly, it gives nearly two cylinders of biogas every day, produces high quality compost manure for crops and it also helps to keep the river clean as it has stopped the waste water generated in the village from getting directly mixed with Punyamata River. Currently, the plant has been treating waste generated by around 200 households of Shreekhandapur village and has been generating over 30 kg methane gas every day. The municipality has been charging Rs. 350 per house every month for the maintenance of the plant. "The treated water is pure enough to be used in the bathrooms to flush toilets and irrigate in the kitchen gardens," says Purna Bahadur Karmacharya, President of Shreekhandapur Waste Water Treatment Plant Users Committee.
If the waste treatment plant constructed in Shreekhandapur proves efficient, Urban and Environmental Improvement Project (UEIP), under funding of Asian Development Bank plans to construct 30 other Reed Bed Treatment systems in cities surrounding Kathmandu valley.
Source:myrepublica.com, 23 Oct

SANITATION CRUCIAL FOR LONGEVITY OF HIV+

Greater attention to water and sanitation by People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) could lead to their longevity, health experts said. Speaking at an interaction on HIV/AIDS and its Linkage with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, jointly organised by UN-HABITAT and Guthi here in the capital today, Lyneette Injette Ochola of UN-HABITAT, Kenya, said that insecure water supply and sanitation exacerbated the life risk to the HIV positives. "The immune system of PLWHA is more susceptible to water and sanitation related opportunistic diseases," she said, adding, "Safe water, sanitation and hygienic behaviour and improved drainage and solid waste management help infected people stay healthier, longer and allow them to continue to work and sustain their families." There is more likelihood of diarrhoeal and skin-related diseases among PLWHA. She noted that the PLWHA required more and better water services and reliable sanitation. "Therefore, in places where there are many PLWHA, the water demand automatically increases." According to a 2008 survey, almost 5 million people living in Asia are infected with HIV. In 2007, some 440,000 people were infected with HIV and 300,000 others died of AIDS-related diseases, she said. "Asia's HIV pandemic is now entering into a second growth phase, which, if expanded prevention efforts are not introduced, might push HIV prevalence to almost 10 million by 2020," she remarked. Mahesh Bhatt from Nepal Red Cross Society said that there was a big challenge for the longevity of the PLWHA in Nepal as they were living scattered. "Water and sanitation are not properly managed in the rural parts of the country, which has aggravated their situation there."
Source: thehimalayantimes.com, 27 0ct

SAFE WATER AND SANITATION AS BASIC FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT IN THE CONSTITUTION

Constituent Assembly members, journalists and environmentalists have stressed to include safe water and improved sanitation as a basic fundamental right in the new constitution of Nepal in an interaction programme organized by Committee on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles (a committee under the constituent assembly committees) and Federation of Nepali Journalists on October 9, 2009.

Binda Pandey, chairperson of the Committee on Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles expressed that general public must be made aware about sanitation and safe water. Emphasizing the role of media in spreading awareness, she informed that the committee is presenting a proposal with special provision for the implementation of directive principles in the new constitution. Other committee members Gagan Thapa and Dan Kumari Sunuwar also shared the similar views.
Source: ngoforum,Gorkhapatra, 10 Oct

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:: GLOBAL NEWS ::

ASIAN SANITATION DATA BOOK 2008 – ACHIEVING SANITATION FOR ALL

Sanitation has not been given sufficient priority in Asia and certainly lags behind provision of drinking water. This is one of the findings of a survey of 27 cities published by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the “Asian sanitation data book 2008“.

The first data book on sanitation for the Asia and Pacific region, this book features raw data and analyses on the sanitation situation in 27 cities. The cities are members of CITYNET and participants in the Water for Asian Cities Program of ADB and UN-HABITAT. Although the information collected was not complete for all cities, the book draws a number of conclusions from the data.

Based on the survey, the key findings are the following:

• Lack of sanitation and household wastewater treatment facilities is polluting ground and surface waters.
• Far too many cities still have incidences of open defecation (ranging from 10%–40%) and sanitation coverage depends on private householders investing in toilets and septic tank systems.
• Only 40% of responding cities have sanitation plans, and few were able to provide information on capital expenditure and operations and maintenance costs.
• Most cities that provide sanitation services rely on government funding to pay for capital and operating costs, with only 10% indicating that sanitation fees and charges can cover their costs.
• Multiple agencies have responsibilities for some aspects of sanitation. However, local government seems to be the primary organization. These organizations were operating under at least several national laws and one local law. These institutional arrangements may frustrate action and reduce accountability.
  Source: washasia.wordpress.com, 21 Oct

HIGH ADAPTATION COSTS FOR WATER SECTOR, WORLD BANK STUDY SAYS

Water supply and flood management, ranks as one of the top three climate adaptation costs in both the wetter and drier scenario, with Sub-Saharan Africa footing by far the highest costs, says a new World Bank report [1]. The study estimates that over the next 40 years, global net annual adaptation costs for municipal and industrial water supply will be between US$ 10.0 billion (€ 6.8 billion) (wetter scenario) and US$ 11.1 billion (€ 7.5 billion) (drier scenario). In both scenarios, Sub-Saharan Africa will have to pay nearly two-thirds of these costs. Global adaptation costs for water supply and sanitation infrastructure were estimated to be US$ 700 million (€ 475 million) per year. Average annual adaptation costs in the health sector for diarrhoea and malaria prevention and treatment lie in a narrow range of US$ 1.3–1.6 billion (€ 0.88-1.1 billion) a year over the 40-year period 2010–50. A large share of the costs of adaptation in the water supply and flood protection sector could be avoided by adopting better management and water tariff policies, the World Bank report suggests. One important lesson is that “development is the most powerful form of adaptation”. [1] Margulis, S. and Narain, U. (2009). The costs to developing countries of adapting to climate change : new methods and estimates : the global report of the Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change Study. Consultation draft. Washington, DC, USA, World Bank. vii, 102 p. Download full report [PDF file].
Source: irc.nl, 16 Oct

HYDROPOWER INDUSTRY BRACES FOR GLACIER-FREE FUTURE

From the Himalayas to the Andes, faster-melting glaciers spell short-term opportunities -- and long-term risks -- for hydroelectric power and the engineering and construction industries it drives. The most widely used form of renewable energy globally, hydro meets more than half Switzerland's energy needs. As summers dry and glaciers that help drive turbines with meltwater recede, that share may eventually fall. In the same way as the Himalayas are "Asia's water-tower," Switzerland is the source of Europe's biggest rivers, supporting agriculture and waterways, and cooling nuclear power stations. More than a billion people worldwide live in river basins fed by glacier or snowmelt.
details.
Source: enn.com, 22 oct

WORLD’S FIRST WASTE-FOG-TO-FUEL PLANT

San Jose, CA - BioFuelBox Inc., a leader in waste-to-fuel solutions, announces the world’s first full-scale refinery for converting waste fat, oil and grease (FOG) from wastewater into a clean-burning renewable fuel. The company’s first plant, located in Idaho, is processing waste FOG from trap grease and is producing a premium, low sulfur, ASTM compliant biodiesel for on-road use. “The US discards more than 4 billion gallons of grease through wastewater treatment systems every year that could be transformed into fuel,” stated Steven Perricone, BioFuelBox’s CEO.
Source: waterandwastewater.com, 7 Oct

YEMEN COULD BECOME FIRST NATION TO RUN OUT OF WATER

One type of vehicle is always within sight on Yemen’s roads: the water truck. Water has become a commodity more precious than petrol there. Increasingly only the rich can afford it, others must rely on scarce rain, charity or crime to stave off thirst.

Yemen is set to be the first country in the world to run out of water. Government and experts agree that the capital, Sanaa, has about ten years at current rates before its wells run dry. Amid one of the world’s highest rates of population growth — 3.46 per cent last year — the water shortage has become critical and is driving civil unrest. Water available across Yemen amounts to 100 to 200 cubic metres per person per year, far below the international water poverty line of 1,000 cubic metres. Groundwater reserves are being used faster than they can replenish themselves, especially in the Sanaa basin, where water once found 20 metres below the surface is now 200 metres deep. In desperation some citizens have dug unlicensed wells, compounding the problem. In Taiz, tapwater is available only once every 45 days. In the mountainous Malhan district, women and children climb a 1,500m mountain to collect water from a spring. The Government is considering a desalination plant for seawater, but this is an expensive solution and may come too late. The only other option is to cut down on the agriculture industry.
Source: timesonline.co.uk, 21 Oct

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::THE TOP 10 PLANTS FOR REMOVING INDOOR TOXINS ::

The indoor pollutants that affect health are formaldehyde, Volatile Organic Compounds (benzene and trichloroethylene or TCE), airborne biological pollutants, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, pesticides and disinfectants (phenols), and radon. These pollutants contribute to ’sick building syndrome’, which causes symptoms ranging from allergies, headaches and fatigue through to nervous-system disorders, cancer and death.

Through studies conducted by NASA, scientists have identified 50 houseplants that remove many of the pollutants and gases mentioned above. Dr. B. C. Wolverton rated these plants for removing chemical vapors, ease of growth, resistance to insect problems, and transpiration (the amount of water they expire into the air). The following lists the “top 10” according to this research.

Source: climate.weather.com

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Edited by: Bhushan Tuladhar & Rabin Shrestha

Designed by: Babukaji Magar

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