WASH Coalition building

The Nepal WASH Coalition brings together a wide group of stakeholders. Members include:

• Government - Department of Water Supply and Sanitation (DWSS)
• National NGOs - Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS), NEWAH
• INGO – WaterAid Nepal
• UN agencies in Nepal - UNICEF, WHO
• Other partners such as FEDWASUN, RCNN, and Folk Artists

Focus

The main focus areas of WASH Nepal are coalition building and advocacy for sanitation, to increase public awareness as well as putting sanitation issues on the national political agenda. This should be achieved through:

 Expanding the networks on national and local levels

Sharing knowledge and strengthening partnership with the media

 Lobbying for increased attention and budget for sanitation issues on national level

Disseminating information materials elaborated for awareness creation

Milestone projects

• Undertook media monitoring activities of eight national dailies on sanitation and water issues in 2006 and 2007.
• Organised 'meet the press' programmes to strengthen partnership with the media, interact with them on sanitation issues, share findings of media monitoring especially to show how much of media focus is on sanitation and water.
• Oriented journalists and launched Media campaign in the Western, Mid Western and Far Western region of Nepal in collaboration with Sancharika Samuha (a women's media group)
• Called nationwide media WASH award competition from March-April 2006 coinciding with the Global Sanitation and Hygiene Week and awarded journalists for best articles amidst a programme.
• Produced and aired TV documentary on 'Sanitation Our Issue' highlighting problems faced by women due to absence of latrines in public places and its effect on their daily lives on the National TV during the 7th National Sanitation Week.
• 'Sanitation Model District Approach' programme adopting the School Led Total Sanitation (SLTS) to achieve total sanitation in Chitawan district by 2009 continues with the support of the government, WASH group members and other stakeholders. A model district coordinator is appointed to see to the coordination and monitoring of activities.
• Published four series of booklets on 'Browsing through the Newspapers'(English & Nepali) so far. It is a compilation of winning and interesting sanitation and water articles published in various newspapers during the media campaign every year.
• WASH Newsletter 'Pani ra Sarsafai', a sector publication on sanitation and water issues continues.
• Fourth WASH calendar published in March 2007 (for Nepali year) and distributed from the grassroots level to the members of parliament.
• Held meetings with WASH group and sector stakeholders to share about the WSSCC planning meeting in April 2007, to discuss on how to take the WSSCC Nepal Chapter forward and on planning for the International Year of Sanitation in 2008.
• In June 2007, forwarded an appeal letter to the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MPPW) and National Planning Commission (NPC) by a group of national NGOs, INGO, and UN stakeholders in Nepal requesting for a separate sanitation budget line. Click here to read the letter.
• On the occasion of World Toilet Day on 19 November 2007, organised a meeting around 'Sanitation for All in Nepal: Challenges and our Responsibilities'. Some 42 sector professionals attended and discussed how to improve and increase sanitation action in Nepal. The event attracted wide press coverage, as per this example from the Himalayan Times.

Main achievements

• <//font>Increased coverage of sanitation issues in the media, monitoring the situation under critical observation by civil society

• <//font>Focus of journalists not only on issues of latrine usage and hand washing but also on other social issues associated with sanitation and water. 

• Government has endorsed the Sanitation Model District Approach programme, a process initially initiated by the Nepal WASH group. 

• Sector stakeholders able to come together as a group to voice the need for a separate sanitation budget line with the government.

• Materials elaborated for awareness creating targeting the broad public, meeting the high demand for such products among NGO's.

• A stable, dynamic network which in particular articulates the needs as perceived by civil society.

Information materials produced

• Booklet on Symposium on ‘Sanitation Approaches and Technologies in Practice in Nepal' - 2008 (Nepali)
• Greeting card with hygiene and sanitation messages for the national celebration of Dashain and Tihar - 2008 (Nepali)
• User friendly flip charts on sanitation, general health and hygiene, dignity, social inclusion & empowerment, lobbying & advocacy and water themes - 2008 (Nepali)
• Sanitation posters for the Regional Workshop on Ecological Sanitation 2008 (Nepali and English)

 To see all the 2008 calendar cartoons please click here.