The two-day South Asia Regional Campaign that kicked off on Monday involves 80 water and sanitation activists from Nepal, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan and hopes to create a political obligation for the right to sanitation of the marginalized communities.[break]
The campaign also saw participation of 17 present and former Member of Parliaments (MP) from the all six countries, who expressed their solidarity to the campaign.
Though political leaders have several times expressed commitment to raise the issue, access of poor and vulnerable communities has not improved much over the years, said Mustafa Talpurr, South Asia Regional Manager of Water Aid.
The scenario is worrisome in South Asia, where one billion people are deprived of basic sanitation facilities and where around 700 million practice open defecation, according to World Health Organization (WHO).
The WHO data further reveals that 69 percent population of Nepal do not have access to improved sanitation such as safe drinking water and hygienic toilets.
Likewise, 66 percent of the population in India, 63 percent in Afghanistan, 56 percent in Bhutan, 52 percent in Pakistan and 44 percent in Bangladesh are denied basic sanitation facilities.
Similarly, to set a vision for the post-2015 period, when the Millennium Development Goals program ends, the conference will also discuss regional strategies of the South Asian countries.
The campaign will also focus on creating one voice of the SAARC countries to negotiate with the UN agencies to increase donors´ investment in water and sanitation sector.
R Murli, regional coordinator of India, mentioned that the public toilets and other sanitation services are below standards in the region where the maintenance is being neglected due to which the infrastructure get defunct over time.
While Nepal has committed to meet universal sanitation coverage by 2017, only four districts -- Chitwan, Tanahun, Kaski and Myagdi -- have been declared ODF area so far, which shows a need of holistic approach to sensitize the various stakeholders from regional to grass roots level.
The former lawmakers Nabindra Raj Joshi, Sarita Giri, Gagan Thapa, Ananda Pokhrel and Ganesh Sah represented Nepal in the conference.
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