Nala (Kavre): Household centered sanitation programme is being implemented in Nala VDC of Kavre district for the first time in Nepal for managed and sustainable urbanization. The programme was launched officially by the Constitution Assembly member Krishna Prasad Sapkota on September 7, 2009 in Kavre. Addressing the launching programme, CA member Sapkota said that the developmental activities should be planned and implemented properly for the sustainable development of Nala VDC.

He told that the household centered sanitation programme will be the foundation to the improvement of environmental sanitation in the village. Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, Chief Technical Advisor of UN HABITAT South Asian Region, suggested the locals to give top priority to planning phase while preparing the sanitation plan. He added that the locals should give up old tradition of planning and the households and communities should be placed at the center in addition to prioritizing infrastructural development. “Local people will be involved from planning to implementation phase of household centered sanitation programme in Nala,” said Padma Sundar Joshi, Executive Director of Center for Integrated Urban Development. He told that most of programmes in Nepal fail to meet its objectives because the target groups are not given prime consideration at the time of planning.
This household centered environmental sanitation programme is a new concept designed by Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) which is different from other projects developed for bringing improvement in sanitation sector. This household centered sanitation programme is being implemented in Nala VDC under the coordination of Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD) with financial and technical support of Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG) and UN HABITAT to bring improvement in environmental sanitation in the Nala VDC. Mingma Sherpa of EAWAG told that local people will be involved from planning to implementation phase of household centered sanitation programme in Nala VDC. “The household centered sanitation plan will be conducted in ten phases in Nala,” he said.
Household centered sanitation programme approach places households, communities and neighborhood at the centre of the planning process, adopting participatory processes from planning until the implementation stage. It encompasses an integrated approach where safe water supply, sanitation and hygiene are addressed simultaneously. Similar household centered sanitation programmes are also being implemented in six other countries including Vietnam, India and Costa Rica.

Source: Rajdhani; Nepal Samacharpatra, September 9, 2009