Nepal: PM receives 100,000 signatures from sanitation campaign

On World Water Day, 22 March 2008, more than 100 thousand signatures collected from 35 districts of the country were handed over Nepal’s Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala calling for increased funding and a national master plan for sanitation.

Read more in Sanitation Updates

Nepal: Relatives in the ministry

Kathmandu: Minister for Physical Planning and Works, Hisila Yami has appointed her sisters, brother and maoist activists in different agencies under her ministry. Yami has appointed her relatives in Melamchi Water Supply Project (MWSP), Nepal Water Supply Corporation (NWSC), Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL), Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Fund Development Committee, Nepal Engineering Council, Kathmandu Valley Drinking Water Management Board and Drinking Water Tariff Commission.

Read more: Kantipur / NGO Forum, 11 Mar 2008

Nepal: ADB will withdraw if Melamchi is delayed

Kathmandu: Deputy Director General of the South Asia Department of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Sultan Hafeez Rahman warned that ADB will withdraw its hand from the Melamchi Water Supply Project if the project is further delayed.

He expressed satisfaction for the government implementing some important improvement procedures in the recent days to move forward the project and supply drinking water in the Kathmandu valley.

Read more: Rajdhani / NGO Forum, 11 Mar 2008

Nepal: Safe water campaign launched

Kathmandu: Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, UN-HABITAT and the Coca-Cola Company jointly launched ‘ Partnership for Safe Water’ campaign with a view to promote simple household water treatment (HWT) option in urban and sub-urban communities so as to improve access to safe water and reduce diarrhoeal diseases.

The campaign would motivate to generate awareness about the use of available methods for safe water treatment. Piyush, aquatabs (chlorine tablet), Sodis technology, solvent technology and colloidal silver methods are available for water treatment.

Read more: NGO Forum, 13 Mar 2008 

India: Japanese ODA loans for For Better Urban Investment Environment, Improved Living Conditions and Rural Poverty Reduction

Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) signed seven Japanese ODA loan agreements totaling up to 185,575 million yen with the Government of India on March 10, 2008. This constitutes the second half of the FY2007 Japanese ODA loan package to India. The overall Japanese ODA loan to India in FY2007 that included the first half commitment (of two projects totaling 39,555 million yen) amounts to 225,130 million yen. This figure is a 20% increase compared to the package of FY2006 totaling 184,893 million yen (for 11 projects). India has now become the country receiving the largest volume of Japanese ODA loan for five consecutive years.

This year’s Japanese ODA loan package will support economic infrastructure development, pro-poor rural development and improvement of the urban living condition, including:

Hogenakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project

The northwestern area of Tamil Nadu, a state located in southern India, has less rainfall than the national average.  Its groundwater is polluted with fluoride.  JBIC will support the Hogenakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project including development of  a water supply system conveying the surface water from River Cauvery primarily for this area, diet consultation for the fluorosis patients and training on fluorosis for the doctors and teachers.  Since there are many people living below the poverty line in the project area, access to safe water is expected to have an impact on poverty reduction.  Training will be provided for doctors and teachers on fluorosis in cooperation with the local experts who have knowledge of fluoride.  This will help identify the patients, as well as shift water sources and provide diet consultations for the patients to prevent the worsening of the disease.

Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Project

This project that aims to improve public health and the living conditions of urban communities.  The project will ensure stable water supplies and sewerage services by developing water supply and sewerage systems.  Through this project, JBIC will also support capacity enhancement regarding the operation and maintenance of these facilities by urban local bodies, which, it is hoped, will lead to improved water supply and sewerage services and their business performance.  The project executing agency is India’s first development fund where the public and private sectors jointly contributed capital for the specific purpose of improving urban infrastructure. This is drawing attention as an unique financing scheme for infrastructure development in local cities to be emulated by other states which foresee significant demand for infrastructure development.

Read more: JBIC, 11 Mar 2008 

China doubles drinking water shortage statistics in less than a week

BEIJING, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) — The number of Chinese officially suffering drinking water shortages has more than doubled in less than a week after the government revised its statistics. The State Flood and Drought Relief Headquarters on Friday released new figures showing 5.9 million people with drinking water shortages, more than double that figure of 2.43 million published on Feb. 24. A headquarters spokesman would not elaborate on the revision, but said the situation was due to a lingering and severe winter drought.

Read more: Xinhua, 29 Feb 2008

Bangladesh: Greater Women’s Involvement in Implementing Arsenic Mitigation Measures in Rural Areas

Given the opportunity to participate and develop their capacity, women have often served as catalysts for change. This is particularly true in the provision of safe drinking water to households and communities, where groups of women tackle the tasks of designing, implementing, and sustaining water supply projects. This Pilot and Demonstration Activity (PDA), funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will highlight how women’s involvement can turn the tide for Bangladesh, the country whose people faces the greatest risk of arsenic poisoning from their drinking water.

The PDA was approved in February 2008.

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ADB-OECD Expert Meeting on Beneficial Private Sector Participation in Water and Sanitation

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) hosted a meeting on this topic on 5 March 2008 at its headquarters in Manila, the Philippines. For more info see the WASH Finance blog

India – Contest to award photo coverage of sanitation

To commemorate the “International Year of Sanitation – 2008,” the Water and Environmental Sanitation Network India (WES-Net India) and its constituent member organizations, UNICEF, WaterAid; Plan India, invite photojournalists working in newspapers and magazines across India to take part in a photo contest on themes related to sanitation. Entries must be received by April 15.

To be eligible, photojournalists are required to publish photographs with captions relating to the following sanitation themes: Sanitary facilities (rural/urban); sewerage systems; hygiene behavior; river pollution issues; solid waste disposal; and wastewater management.The photos must run for a period of one week beginning on world water day, March 20.

Read More – IJNET

Philippines – DOH promotes National Year of Sanitation

Tacloban City (10 March) — Centered on the theme “Sanitasyon ang Solusyon”, 2008 has been declared as the National Year of Sanitation through a Presidential Proclamation, based on the United Nations General Assembly declaring 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation.

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One of the activities identified and to be implemented by the National Center for Health Development in coordination with the Local Government Units is the National Search for the Barangay with Best Sanitation Practices.

Read More – PIA Information Services