Kathmandu, September 21

The Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development has directed all 75 districts to celebrate Open Defecation Free zone declarations without being ostentatious.

The MoFALD today issued a circular to this effect to the DDCs in response to the concern expressed by the Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation towards the tendency of making ODF zone declarations ‘’extravagant and showy in a manner, eclipsing the spirit and sustainability of the nationwide campaign’’.

The DDCs were celebrating ODF zone declaration with paid musical band, cultural procession and a lavish feast; tapping into development funds at the VDC and municipal level. “The MoFALD has directed the DDCs to make such functions economical and invite local high-profile persons as the chief guest and special guest for the programme,” said an official at the Environmental Management Section of the MoFALD.

Similarly, the MoFALD said that guests could only be invited from places other than the local ones if their organisations bear the transport fare and other expenses. It has also stressed on massive participation of local user groups, communities, schools and organisations.

In 2011, the government and political parties took an oath to initiate this campaign and make Nepal Open Defecation Free by 2017. For this, the government developed a National Sanitation and Hygiene Master Plan (2011-17), which sets an ambitious target of achieving 100 per cent Total Behaviour Change with ODF and 11 other WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) relation indicators across all 75 districts.

Data collected from the 2011 Census, indicates that access to improved water supply and sanitation stands at 85 per cent and 62 per cent respectively. This shows that Nepal has surpassed the MDG commitments both on water supply and sanitation.

However, huge disparities among the regions, districts and villages still prevail, says a UNICEF report.

Schools and health posts have significant gaps in water supply, sanitation and waste disposal facilities. Till date, there are 34,782 schools in Nepal. Though 79 per cent of the schools report the existence of toilet, only 56.7 per cent of schools report that they have a separate toilet for girls, as per the 2012 flash report of the Department of Education.

As of May, Nepal has declared 2,127 VDCs, 89 municipalities, 34 districts and one zone ODF areas, according to the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation.