Kathmandu, December 7

Independent Evaluation Department of Asian Development Bank has said that apart from immediate results, effective water supply projects and proper sanitation programmes also have multiple benefits in terms of educating children and empowering women.

Making public the evaluation report of ‘Small Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Project’ yesterday, IED officials suggested implementing similar model for development of the country. The evaluations were conducted with the objective of learning from the success and failure of the STWSSSP implemented in 29 towns in Nepal between 2000 and 2009.

The STWSSP is a cost-shared, community-managed approach for water supply and sanitation, which is coupled with training programmes for water service providers.

The IED claimed that the project covered 593,000 beneficiaries. The cost sharing between government and community was on a 50:50 basis. Households made up their contribution through a minimum cash contribution of 5 per cent; an in-kind contribution, such as labour.