WSSCC’s Global Sanitation Fund programme in Nepal seeks sub-grantees

UN-Habitat, the Executing Agency for the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council’s (WSSCC) Global Sanitation Fund (GSF) programme in Nepal, is now seeking expressions of interest for potential sub-grantees to carry out GSF work on the ground in the country.

UN-Habitat will implement the hygiene and sanitation programme in five districts: Arghakhanchi, Bajura, Bardiya, Sindhupalchowk and Sunsari, and in the municipalities of Dharan, Gularia, Inaruwa, Itahari and Tikapur.

Sub-grantees can be Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs), private firms and local government bodies.

Deadline: 28 January 2011

For more details read the full Call for Expression of Interest (EOI)

Related web site: WSSCC – Global Sanitation Fund

Please do not send EOIs or requests for information to WASH news Asia & Pacific

Laos: small towns buckling under strain of migration

Small towns in Laos are experiencing an influx of migrants in search of better living conditions, increasing the strain on infrastructure and services such as water and sanitation, the UN and government officials say.

Laos is experiencing a high urbanization rate of 4-5 percent per annum, adding to pressure on local authorities to provide basic infrastructure, according to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT).

There are an estimated 139 small towns in Laos, and many of those along economic corridors – bordering Cambodia, China, Thailand and Vietnam – are seeing influxes from rural areas.

“Many of these small towns experience high population growth, and increased pressure on the local environment. Small towns are now becoming increasingly polluted because of a lack of adequate infrastructure,” said Buahom Sengkhamyong, chief technical adviser for UN-HABITAT in Laos.

As part of its regional Mekong Water and Sanitation Initiative (MEK-WATSAN) programme, the agency is providing improved services in small towns, especially along the economic corridors.

The lure of basic services

Water and sanitation has been identified as a development priority by the Lao government, which has floated an urban water sector investment plan estimated at US$266 million from 2005 to 2020.

But as the government improves services in small towns, they are proving a draw to migrants and creating unmanageable population growth in certain areas, including southern Savannakhet Province, according to UN-HABITAT and the government’s Nam Papa State-Owned Water Supply Enterprise.

“In Savannakhet Province, water and sanitation services are a serious issue for many districts,” Phandola Khouanemeuangchane, director of Nam Papa Savannakhet, told IRIN.

“Yet, we have a more complicated problem: the districts with improved water and sanitation services are flooded with ‘resource migrants’. In the end, our services often do not meet the demands of these growing small towns,” he said.

For Kung, a 95-year-old woman from a village outside of Sounvouli District in Savannakhet Province, migration for her family to a small town is a dream.

“Of course I would like to be able to move my family to a small town for better services,” said Kung.

“Three times a day, I travel to the well to collect water for my family to drink. It’s a laborious and time-consuming chore. In April and May, our village well dries up and then we compete with our neighbours to reach the well first. There’s simply not enough water to go around,” she said.

Planning challenges

In Laos, insufficient data on small-town population growth means development programmes are planned according to the national population growth rate of 2.8 percent, rather than the local rate, which is unknown.

According to Nam Papa, the number of small towns, and the percentage of the country’s population of some 5.86 million living in small towns by 2015, will exceed the government’s own estimates.

“Our investments in the sector disregard the true impact of resource migrants. Funding will not be adequate and will not meet the demands of our small towns along the economic corridors of Savannakhet Province,” said Phandola.

The Lao government, in its 2004 National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (NGPES), aims to improve services for an additional 1.95 million urban population.

But with rapid small-town growth, the NGPES will not be able to meet the demands for all the inhabitants needing improved water and sanitation services, officials say.

Meanwhile, small-town populations face the problem of the high cost of water, especially where local authorities lack the ability to supply it.

In the mountainous small town of Houn in Oudom Xai Province in northern Laos, one cubic meter of water is sold by private vendors for the equivalent of $3 – 26 times more than the average cost charged by Nam Papa.

“Unless improved services are provided, the people in small towns will get into the vicious cycle of poverty which they were trying to get away from in the first place,” said UN-HABITAT’s Sengkhamyong.

“Lack of water and sanitation infrastructure has a direct adverse impact on the quality of life of the communities, especially the poor,” he said.

Source: IRIN, 18 Feb 2010

Nepal, Kavre district: household centered sanitation programme in Nala

A household-centered environmental 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.

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.

Household-centered environmental sanitation is a new concept designed by the 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 Viet Nam, India and Costa Rica.

Source: Rajdhani & Nepal Samacharpatra / NGO Forum, 09 Sep 2009

Nepal, Lalitpur: three communities declared as Safe Water Zone

On the occasion of World Environment Day 2009, three communities – Chhusika, Chochen and Lonhala of Lalitpur district— were declared as the Safe Water Zones for the first time in Nepal under the “Partnership for Safe Water” campaign. Waterborne diseases such as cholera, dysentery and diarrhoea were common in these communities in the past years. After the launching of “Partnership for Safe Water” campaign, public awareness on safe drinking water has been found remarkably increased in these communities. Nowadays, every household in the community practices household drinking water disinfection techniques.

Partnership for Safe Water – a unique private public partnership has been initiated by Government of Nepal, UN HABITAT, Bottlers’ Nepal, Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) and Urban Environment Management Society [and sponsored by Coca-Cola] to reduce water borne diseases through the promotion of simple household water treatment options.

According to District Public Health Office, Lalitpur; there were 297 cholera cases identified in different communities during last monsoon. Therefore, “Partnership for Safe Water” Campaign initiated its activities in the communities of Lalitpur, which widely disseminated the information of safe drinking water at community level in Lalitpur and promoted simple household water treatment options such as boiling, filtration, chlorination and SODIS.

[...] The local women of Lonhala Community exhibited simple household drinking water disinfection technologies including boiling, filtration, chlorination and SODIS on the roadside of their community to disseminate the information in other communities.

An Inter-School Art Competition on the theme “Waterborne Diseases and its preventive measures” had also been organized on the same occasion.

Source: GUTHI, Kantipur; Nepal Samacharpatra / NGO Forum, 07 Jun 2009

UN-HABITAT has published an update on their web site about their collaboration with Coca-Cola on 22 July 2009

Coca-Cola UN-HABITAT Mission brochure

Nepal: Bottlers Nepal, UN-HABITAT joins hands for rainwater harvesting

UN-HABITAT Water for Asian Cities programme and Bottlers Nepal Limited are set to install rainwater harvesting system in historical ponds located in Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts. The bid is believed to recharge sinking water aquifer caused by over-extraction of groundwater and climate change.

The two parties signed an agreement on June 5, 2009, to work together on rainwater harvesting [with] Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City (LSMC) and Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board and [technical assistance from] the Centre for Integrated Urban Development (CIUD).

Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, chief technical advisor, UN-HABITAT Water for Asian Cities Programme, South Asia said [...] the initiative would conserve 40,000 kiloliters of rain water, besides encouraging communities to conserve water and protect its traditional sources.

Source: The Himalayan Times / NGO Forum, 07 Jun 2009

Nepal, Kathmandu: bio-filters to manage waste

Thirty-one households in Narayan Tole squatter settlement near Maharajgunj of KMC-3 , Kathamdu, have recently constructed ‘up-flow bio-filters’ to treat septic tank effluent. They have constructed two such filters spread in over 342 sq ft area with the financial and technical support of UN-HABITAT Water for Asian Cities Programme Nepal, WaterAid Nepal and Lumanti Support Group for Shelter.

Only 16 households in the area had toilets until a year ago. They used to let their toilet waste mix directly into nearby rivers. [...] All the households in the area now have toilets. They have constructed a 180-metre-long sewer to channel the toilet waste to the filters.

The filter first separates solid and liquid wastes and treats the liquid waste. After the treatment, the waste water [flows] into the rivers while the solid waste remains in the tank. The bio-filters were constructed with Rs. 0.2 million collected from the donors and locals. The locals have formed Narayan Tole Sudhar Samiti (NTSS) to take care of the filters.

Kalpana Karki, treasurer of the Samiti, told that it collects Rs. 35 per month from each household for the maintenance of the filters. [...] “We will use the digested solid waste as fertilizer in our fields,” Karki said.

Related news: Nepal, Kathmandu: squatters seek NGO help to defeat river pollution, Source Weekly, 15 Dec 2008

Source: NGO Forum,10 Feb 2009

Nepal, Lalitpur: new sanitation initiative benefitting Lubhu people

Lalitpur: The people living in Lubhu [or Luboo], and its vicinity are now happy that they now [have improved sanitation and ended the practice of open defecation]. ”After two years of continuous efforts made by the [Lubhu Infrastructure and Environment Improvement Committee (LIEIC)], most of the villages in the areas have been free from this serious problem,” Ram Bahadur Shrestha, chairman of the of Committee, said.

[...] A total of 152 toilets, including both general and ecological sanitary [ecosan] toilets, have been constructed at private households as well as public places at the initiative of the committee and UN-HABITAT. Anil Sthapit, director of [NGO] Guthi, said that bricks have been laid down in 2,000 square metres of local roads and a drainage system

[Besides sanitation, a new piped water supply system was constructed and over 50 traditional wells and ponds revived]. Also the 800 students of local Mahalaxmi Secondary School have benefitted from a rainwater harvesting system, [with a capacity of 5,00 litres], installed in the area. The water is processed through a bio-sand filter processing system.

A total of 803 locals were trained to make villages free from pollution, maintain safe drainage facilities and create public health awareness campaign in the area. These people are now providing training to other people.

The project was a joint effort of the Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, Centre for Integrated Urban Development, WaterAid Nepal and UN-HABITAT.

See a short Nepalnews.com video (in Nepali) on the Lubhu project here.

Source:  NGO Forum, 05 Jan 2009 ; The Kathmandu Post / NGO Forum, 04 Jan 2008

Nepal, Kathmandu: squatters find way to rid of river pollution

Until a year ago, life was like a nightmare for squatters of Narayan tole behind the Maharajgunj-based Kanti Children’s Hospital: [a] pungent smell emanated from the polluted Samakhusi River [and] the squatters [suffered from] diseases, including diarrhoea, eye shore and dysentery.

[T]he squatters sought help from [...] Lumanti, an NGO working in the slums, Water Aid and UN-HABITAT, [who] contributed Rs. 90,000 and technical expertise. Two small wastewater treatment plants (septic tank with upflow bio-filters) were built with this assistance. [...] Twenty-eight households of the area have linked their toilet sewage pipes with these tanks, which discharge only clean water into the river. The squatters use decomposed waste as fertiliser.

“Earlier, only a few of us had toilets in our households. We used to defecate out in the open at night. The handful of toilets had their drainage pipes linked with the river,” said Gita Devi Dhakal, one of the squatters.

[...] With Asian Development Bank funding, the department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), under the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works (MoPPW), is constructing over 30 bigger wastewater treatment plants under the Urban and Environmental Improvement project (UNIP) in a number of cities.

[However], the bigger the plant, the more it costs. [S]mall [household] treatment plants [are cheaper and occupy little space].

“Every planner can learn a lesson from the initiative of the Narayan tole squatter community,” said Lajana Manandhar, executive director of LUMANTI. “If all households build small plants, then we can clean up the polluted rivers of Kathmandu without having to wait for donors.”

Source: The Kathmandu Post / NGO Forum, 02 Dec 2008

Nepal: model wastewater treatment plant

Dhulikhel municipality constructed a community-based wastewater treatment plant cum biogas at Srikhandapur-9, in Kavre district that generates cooking gas for locals, fertilizers for farmers and ultimately sends clean water into the river.

Six-horizontal reed bed treatment systems [wetlands] of 175 cubic meters and two-Bio-gas reactors of 75 cubic meter capacity each have been installed over four-Ropanis of land adjoining the sewage pipe of over 200 households for collection of wastewater.

[...]

The UN-HABITAT [through the Water for Asian Cities programme] and Dhulikhel Municipality supported Rs. 53, 00,000 and Rs. 17, 00, 000, respectively. Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO) provided technical assistance and training to locals in maintaining the system. The locals volunteered with masonry and contributed over Rs. 10, 00,000.

[...]

The plant generates over 30-kilogram cooking gas and equal amount of fertilizer everyday when the plant becomes fully operational [in October 2008].

Source: NGO Forum, 29 Sep 2008

Nepal: cholera mitigation campaign launched

Kathmandu: Guthi, a non-governmental organisation, launched a cholera mitigation campaign with a slogan of ‘Build Good Habit, Drink Pure Water’ with the assistance of the Nepal government, UNICEF and UN-HABITAT. [The launch was held at the] Ganabahal unit of Nepal Red Cross Society.

According the figures from Valley-based hospitals, 4,000 people suffered from diarrhoea [in 2007]. Among them, 250 people suffered from cholera and five of them died. Most of the victims were children. In the current year, according to records of Teku Hospital, 200 people were found to have caught cholera.

[...]

The [campaign] organizers said they were going to set up mitigation camps at 75 places of Kathmandu Valley mobilizing their volunteers to distribute chlorine and raise awareness among the people about use of purified water at hotels, restaurants, schools and houses. At the programme, the organizers had exhibited the techniques of water purification, sanitation and management of household garbage.

Director of Guthi Anil Sthapit said, “We will go from door to door to make people aware about cholera and water purification technology.”

Source: NGO Forum, 05 Sep 2008

Chlorine solution has been distributed free of cost to around 1,000 families to control cholera that has been raging in the Kathmandu Valley. The solution for water disinfection is being distributed at 75 different locations from temporary booths of the Kathmandu Valley.

[...]

“We have already educated more than 2,000 people about personal hygiene and the process of making drinking water safe,” said Dipesh Raj Sharma, coordinator of the campaign, adding.

[...]

More than 100 volunteers of the campaign are visiting door-to-door, grocery stores and small and big restaurants to make them aware of safe drinking water and sanitation. Additional 100 volunteers will be mobilized in the month-long campaign.

Source: Annapurna Post / NGO Forum, 15 Sep 2008