316 पटक हेरिएको 
Kathmandu: Ten municipalities across the country have prepared action plans for activities to be carried out within the next six months in the field of citywide inclusive sanitation.
The action plans were developed during the mid-term review workshop of the “Scaling Citywide Inclusive Sanitation Service Systems (Nepal)” program by all 10 municipalities, including the seven program municipalities and three strategic municipalities.
Before preparing the plans, extensive discussions were held between the municipalities and partner organizations regarding progress made as per the memorandum of understanding, challenges faced, key lessons learned, and priority actions for the coming days.
All municipalities regarded the collection of data based on inclusive sanitation as one of the major achievements of the program. Mayor Prakash Bhandari of Sharda Municipality, Salyan, stated that the inclusive sanitation data has provided a clear picture of the sanitation status within each municipality and has also served as a guide for identifying areas that need improvement and the ways to address them.
After preparing the action plans, each municipality presented its plan. Following every presentation, Sudha Shrestha, National Professional Officer (WASH) at UN-Habitat, commented on the plans and urged municipalities to recognize sanitation as a public service, similar to drinking water services.
She emphasized that reliable data is essential not only for improving the sanitation sector but for the improvement of any sector. The municipalities have also included in their action plans the task of entering all collected data into the central data management system.
Under the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management, the N-WASH MIS system is currently in operation for collecting data related to the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) sector. Based on the data collected through N-WASH MIS, various local governments are preparing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Plans (WASH Plans).
According to the agreement signed on Asar 13, 2082 (Nepali calendar), technical support was to be provided to the participating municipalities under the program. This support includes assistance in developing laws, regulations, operational procedures, plans, and policies related to fecal sludge management; data collection and updates in the N-WASH system; capacity development training; and monitoring and evaluation activities.
Similarly, the participating municipalities committed to endorsing fecal sludge management-related policies and plans within the project period, allocating at least 15 percent of the sanitation budget to fecal sludge management, providing the necessary land and infrastructure, and designating focal persons through the environment and sanitation section for project implementation.
The program is being implemented in Godawari Municipality, Sharda Municipality, Ghorahi Sub-Metropolitan City, Gorkha Municipality, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Lahan Municipality, and Mechinagar Municipality.
The “Scaling Citywide Inclusive Sanitation Service Systems Nepal Program” is being implemented with financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while UN-Habitat serves as the executing agency.
Program partner organizations include Municipal Association of Nepal, WaterAid Nepal, Ministry of Water Supply, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management, and the National WASH Research, Innovation and Capacity Development Centre.
