Upcoming SACOSAN conference has 200 seats for virtual participants

KATHMANDU, Sept 29: If you are interested to attend the South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) but are unable to attend in person, then you can participate online from any part of the world, the organizers said. The three-day conference will kick off in the capital October 22. (break)



A total of 40 people -- 25 Nepalis and 15 foreigners -- have already registered to participate online. There are a total of 200 seats available for online participants, according to the SACOSAN media center.



This is the first time in any South Asian regional-level conference where an individual can participate online and the participants can get live update of the debates and thematic discussions of the countries-wise presentation throughout the three days conference, said Nimesh Regmi, public relations officer at the SACOSAN media center.



Similarly, four moderators would respond to the queries and suggestions from the virtual/online participants. The online partakers click the "I want to speak" button anytime if they want to make comment on the thematic discussion or any session during the conference, Regmi added.



Discussion will be held on eight themes such as sanitation and health, community-wide sanitation and sustainability, school sanitation, reaching the unreached, sanitation technology and marketing.



Similarly, media advocacy and sanitation, urban sanitation, knowledge and networking would also be discussed among party countries´ experts. Nepal has been assigned to cover the media advocacy part.



On the last day of the conference, the ministers from all participant countries would hold a final discussion on the basis of experts´ views in the conference and set new declarations to be implemented in the next two years.



With the growing concern over the sanitation issues as the national target of Open Defecation Free (ODF) is set for 2017, the government welcomes all the suggestion to improve and upgrade the existing program for which online participation concept could be a good medium, said the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) Awadh Kishor Mishra.



As the deadline to confirm online participation is ending Tuesday, the government is likely to extend the deadline to make sure more people participate.

Related story

Nepal European Union Film Festival to begin virtually