KATHMANDU: The first national conference of Freshwater Action Network (FAN)-South Asia, Nepal Chapter today decided to develop capacity building programmes for organisations working in the field of water and sanitation.

The conference also decided to plead national, regional and international stakeholders for the purpose.

A 13-member task force under the coordination of Lajana Manandhar has been formed for effective coordination among organisations working in the sector.

The task force is responsible for bringing forth capacity building programmes.

Prakash Amatya, coordinator of South Asian Regional Communication, said

that the FAN was an international network of organisations working in the water

and sanitation sector.

Amatya also said that FAN had turned out to be an

effective medium to raise issues of water and sanitation in the South Asian region to the concerned international counterparts.

Likewise, Ratna Budathoki said that FAN had played

an important role in raising the voices of civil society

at the third South Asia

Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN III) in Delhi in November 2008.