Addressing the South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) led by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) on Tuesday, Jha said though the current ratio of development is not satisfactory, an ongoing campaign to meet toilet coverage in every households by 2017 as per the national target.[break]
He added that it has created a momentum for development in the sector reducing the outbreak of water borne disease in the country.
So far more than 1,000 VDCs and 13 municipalities have been declared ODF.
Ten districts have already achieved the target whereas seven others are in the queue to meet target shortly.
Nepal´s sanitation coverage of 30 percent in 2000 improved to 62 percent in 2011, which exceeded the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of 53 percent. After meeting the goal, another target was set to ensure total water and sanitation facility by 2017.
The MDG report issued recently stated that the disparities between urban and rural areas as well as among geographical regions as the sanitation coverage increased from 80 percent to 91 percent over the last decade in urban areas, and from 25 percent to 55 percent in rural areas.
Contrary to the drinking water facility, which is over 70 percent among all social groups, sanitation coverage has shown variation on the basis of ethnicity.
It was revealed by the National Census 2011 that the Newar community has the highest 71.6 percent sanitation, whereas the Madhesis and the Dalits are at lowest end of the table with only 4.6 percent.
In the south Asian context, 71 percent people lack access to improved sanitation in Afghanistan, 65 in India, 55 in Bhutan, 53 in Pakistan, 45 in Bangladesh, 9 in Sri Lanka and 2 percent in the Maldives.
Secretary of the MoUD Kishor Thapa mentioned in the program that sanitation issues have now reached above the concept of mere necessity and that the people want to build toilets, keep their surrounding clean and develop hygienic practices also for their dignity, social prestige and values that comes alone with healthy habits.
Representing all civil society organizations from the South Asian region, Ramisetty Murali, regional convener of the Fresh Water Action Network South Asia, urged the donor agencies to introduce separate plans targeting urban and poor people so that the challenges in both the sectors can be identified and addressed efficiently.
On the first day of the ministerial-level conference, all the eight countries presented their country papers portraying the sanitation status in their countries.
The discussion on various eight themes of sanitation is to be held on Wednesday.
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