On the occasion of World Toilet Day 2020, a Webinar was organized on 19 November 2020 with the slogan “Sustainable Sanitation and Climate Change”. The aim was to observe World Toilet Day and to highlight SDG 6.2: By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations . As a step towards localizing SDG 6.2, the webinar created a forum for the national as well as subnational governments to share, learn and build commitment to integrate and focus on the SDG 6.2 in the province and local level plans and programs. In collaboration with the Ministry of Water Supply, Nepal SDGs Forum and WaterAid, the webinar was jointly organized by National Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Committee, NGO Federation of Nepal and FEDWASUN. This collaborative approach was adopted in order to make the event participatory and build ownership of the government and stakeholders. More than 100 people participated in the webinar. Ministers of Social Development of Province 1 Jivan Ghimire was present as the chief guest of the program. Ramakant Duwadi, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Water Supply chaired the webinar which was moderated by Jit Ram Lama, President of NGO Federation of Nepal. Prabhat Shrestha, Senior Divisional Engineer of Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management and Member Secretary of National Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Committee welcomed the participants. Likewise, Rajendra Aryal, President of Federation of Drinking Water and Sanitation Users’ Nepal (FEDWASUN) highlighted the context and objectives of the webinar. The webinar mainly had presentations, queries and remarks. The four presentations of the webinar had different focus and objectives: to provide a broader picture of SDG 6.2 or setting the scene, initiatives for strengthening sustainable sanitation system at the federal level, initiatives for strengthening sustainable sanitation system in the province level which was represented by Karnali Province, initiatives for strengthening sustainable sanitation system in rural municipality which was represented by Kamal Rural Municipality, and initiatives for strengthening sustainable sanitation system in a municipality which was represented by Mahalaxmi Municipality . Govinda Shrestha, Policy Specialist of WaterAid Nepal set the scene with his presentation. Likewise, Yogen Chitrakar, Senior Divisional Engineer from Ministry of Water Supply, Ramesh Subedi, Senior Divisional Engineer from Ministry of Physical Infrastructure Development in Karnali Province, Menuka Kafle Pokharel, Chairperson of Kamal Rural Municipality and National Vice President of NARMIN, and Sanjaya Adhikari, WASH Governance Advisor to Mahalaxmi Municipality made their presentations covering the initiatives on sustainable sanitation and SDG 6.2 at the federal, province, rural municipality and municipality levels respectively. Addressing the Webinar, Minister of Social Development from Province 1, Jivan Ghimire stressed that collective institutional effort is required to address the problems in terms of improvement of toilets in Nepal. He further highlighted that during his monitoring in Province 1, he found toilets were constructed, but many did not fulfill the criteria. He also said that schools lack disabled-friendly toilets and public institutions’ toilets which are poorly managed. NFN President Jitram Lama said that SDG 6.2 awareness campaign is required using new approaches and to establish this as an important agenda. Secretary Madhav Belbase of Ministry of Water Supply said that Nepal is Open Defecation Free now, but we still have inadequate technological knowledge, skills and capacity building programs. He also expressed his commitment to make disabled- and gender-friendly toilets. Joint Secretary of Ministry of Water Supply, Ramakant Duwadi said that every citizen has fundamental rights to live in safe and clean environment. He further stressed that budget should be increased in the water and sanitation sector. WASH component needs to be incorporated in the local level planning. Tripti Rai, Country Director of WaterAid said issues must be prioritized in terms of importance in the sector of sanitation and clean drinking water and budget should be allocated accordingly. She also highlighted the need for database management at local level and localization of SDGs. Elke Wisch, Country Representative of UNICEF said that sanitation is the issue of human rights. She stressed about financing, data and information management, governance, capacity development and innovation. She further added these are the key factors to find pathway towards the effective implementation of WASH. The webinar has been exemplary in terms of facilitating for an interface among the federal, province and local governments in the presence of CSOs. It has been supportive to the government officials to understand the initiatives as well as issues and challenges. This collaborative approach has focused on ownership and commitment to the agenda of SDG 6.2. However, this has been an initial intervention and going down to the province and local levels is necessary.
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