Report paints gloomy picture of West in terms of access to drinking water and sanitation facilities
The larger disparities across wealth quintiles in terms of access to improved water source and sanitation facility in rural and urban households exists in Far-Western and Mid-Western region of the country, a preliminary report of a study conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics said. The Nepal Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (NMICS) conducted in 2010 by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Nepal in financial and technical support provided by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Nepal reveals that only 36 percent of the households in the two regions have improved sanitation while 83 percent have access to improved source of drinking water. To read more, click here.

Leadership of local government must to achieve progress in sanitation and hygiene
The broad alliance under the leadership of local governments is must to attain the accelerated and sustainable progress in sanitation and hygiene in the region, including Nepal, experts concluded. The experts from five different countries namely Nepal, Bhutan, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam who participated in a workshop on governance on water, sanitation and hygiene from September 13-17 concluded that the dialogue among sector stakeholders and joint target setting for district-wide rural sanitation coverage has helped to overcome the challenge of spreading the sanitation message in remotest communities in the region. To learn more, click here.

Learning and sharing activities under NWA programme
The WASH-RCNN will coordinate and implement learning and sharing activities under Nepal WASH Alliance (NWA) programme in the year 2012 supported by Dutch WASH Alliance (DWA). WASH-RCNN is one of the core members of NWA and has been facilitating/participating NWA meetings and workshops since April 2010.

‘Learning question’
Do you think decentralisation of WASH resource centres (e.g. Regional WASH Resource Centre in Surkhet) will contribute to better learning and sharing in the WASH sector of Nepal? Please click here to send in your feedback!

Chitwan becomes the second ODF district in the country

Progress has been made though gradually by the country to attain the sanitation Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and the national sanitation target of universal access to basic sanitation facilities by 2017. The positive initiatives like declaring Open Defecation Free (ODF) Areas has not only provided sanitation and hygiene related facilities but has changed the perception of the rural communities towards the personal hygiene and sanitation. The access to a toilet is now a matter of self-dignity than a mere option even for the poor communities who are less capable to invest to build it. And to provide similar facilities for the underprivileged communities, the local governments, political parties, and donor agencies have played a vital role in recent years. The declaration of Kaski district as the first ODF district is the result of concerted efforts from all concerned stakeholders lead by the local government representatives. And now though lately, Chitwan has become the second ODF district, and the momentum required for improving the sanitation facilities is gradually taking off. However, there is challenge to ensure that the existing mechanism to provide quality services and its functionality is well-monitored.

Article by: Pragati Shahi, Reporter, The Kathmandu Post
E-mail: pragati.journo@gmail.com

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WaterAid in Nepal organises interaction on ‘Re-defining Human Right from Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) perspective’
Nepal presents comparatively better performance on protecting other rights including rights of people with disability, dalit, women and children among others, but safeguarding the rights of WASH to the people is still a far cry. To read more, click here.