National WASH Coalition
The Sri Lankan WASH Coalition is part of the national sector coordinating mechanisms, comprising government agencies, several national and international NGOs, and UN organizations. The monthly meetings are chaired by the Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage.
Focus
The coalition works to raise awareness of WASH issues and the principles of Vision 21, the strategy for achieving water, sanitation and hygiene goals for all by 2025, and the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. It aims to achieve reliable and sustainable services and socio-economic well-being, with special emphasis on the poor.
Milestones and achievements
In 2010, the coalition is working to strengthen sector collaboration with different forums and to engage itself in knowledge sharing. Its activities in 2009 focused on the theme of water services:
- It established a Water Quality Surveillance Programme (WQSP). This has included activities such as identifying threats to water sources due to poor sanitation, mobilizing communities for source protection, and working to help individual households with greater understanding of a range of water treatment options. District workshops illustrated the WQSP structure at that level with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, a structure that was later approved at national level.
- It ran public awareness and information campaigns on the advantages of safe water and sanitation facilities, working through the Ministry of Mass Media.
- It provided advocacy and social marketing of ecological sanitation options and catchment protection, organized a structure communication programme, and held events such as exhibitions and demonstrations.
In other activities, the coalition has produced a concept paper on the MDGs, established SriWash, a provincial pilot resource centre, and developed public-private community partnerships for improved rural water supply and sanitation.
News
The 4th South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SacoSan IV) in April 2011 is being hosted by Sri Lanka under the theme “Sanitation enhances life.” The conference is expected to ensure the host government’s commitment to sanitation service delivery. The WASH coalition has been engaged in programme preparations for the event.
