Nepal Village Foundation (UK)
Supporting sustainable livelihoods development programmes in the rural villages of Nepal
Saturday, July 24, 2010, 18:57:55
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Stopping diarrhoeal disaster
Let there be no orphans in the country whose parents have to die because of preventable diseases that come out of unsafe water and sanitation.
By Shikha Shrestha (Feb 2009, Nepal News)
Man Bahadur and Dhansari are orphans in Rukum. They both lost their parents to a preventable basic disease: diarrhoea. The story of how eleven-year-old Yam Bahadur Chanara became an orphan is the same. He too lost his parents to this preventable disease.
When adult poor Nepalis die of diarrhoea due to unsafe water and sanitation, most
educated Nepalis in the urban areas do not know what to make of such deaths. On one
hand, the disease strikes one as one of those elemental diseases that should been
eradicated years ago. On the other hand, 317 Nepalis died from a diarrhoeal outbreak
in 12 districts of the mid western part of the country just last August, when 46,000
peoples’ lives were also negatively affected. Jajarkot, which is 400 km northwest
of Kathmandu, became the epicentre of the disease as it alone witnessed the death
of 143 people. Since disease-related deaths are underreported in Nepal, who knows
what the final death figure might have been?
What causes such deaths? Not having safe
drinking water and living in surroundings mired in poor sanitation services make
it easier for diarrhoea to flourish. The Nepal government estimates that 4.4 million
Nepalis do not have access to safe drinking water. This means that the water they
drink is muddy or dirty. Similarly, 14 million Nepalis do not have basic sanitation
services. This indicates that they do not have hygienic toilet facilities. When you
have a situation in which unsafe water and unhygienic sanitation conditions converge,
you have a ripe situation for diarrhoea to break out as an epidemic. True, this
sort of deprivation is not limited to Nepal. In fact, WHO and UNICEF estimate that
40 per cent of the world’s population – or 2.5 billion people -- does not have access
to toilets. WHO further estimates that 28% of under-the-age-five deaths are caused
by poor sanitation and unsafe water.
There could be several reasons why Jajarkot became the epicenter for the outbreak last August. But the main reason is this: its sanitation coverage is only 22 percent. Put another way, this means that only two out of 10 people there have proper toilets. And in the absence of toilets, they have to use streams and rivers as their defecation spots, and faecal matters are carried downstream and often become drinking water for others. Comparatively, Jajarkot’s coverage is better than that of Kalikot and Bajura, two districts where the sanitation coverage is below 10 percent.
Proper sanitation saves lives. Not only that, sanitation improves lives. According to a study done by WHO, one dollar invested in sanitation gives a return of nine dollars. Indeed, development experts say that apart from the simple act of sending girls to schools, interventions made in sanitation give the highest development returns – in terms of better health and well-being, which lead poor people on the path to financial security. Yet these truisms have yet to make a dent in the consciousness of our political leaders. Proper sanitation also reduces Acute Respiratory Infections (ARIs), which is a number-one killer of children.
Given the importance of safe water and sanitation, and given also the relative political indifference to better the sanitation coverage, what can one do? The first thing is to campaign together with like-minded organizations and individuals that have worked tirelessly for many years to attract public and political attention to the importance of this issue. Likewise, there is a space for Nepal to be a signatory in Global Framework for Action (GF4A) on Sanitation and Water for all. Nepal’s interest in being a member in GF4A has helped it get selected as one of the pilot countries that would help formulate the framework together with its South Asian partners such as Bangladesh. Nepal’s selection as a pilot country highlights that its sanitation goals are “off-track” so far as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) goals are concerned. Being a part of the GF4A helps Nepal signal that it is serious about raising the sanitation coverage, and this in turn, is likely to attract additional donor resources to finalize and implement the Sanitation Master Plan.
Meantime, civil society networks are campaigning together. For instance, networks such as End Water Poverty, Freshwater Action Network and Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council are jointly organizing The World’s Longest Toilet Queue (WLTQ) from 20 to 22 March 2010 with the common call of “Make a Stand for Sanitation and Water”. The primary purpose of this global campaign in Nepal is to show solidarity with 14 million Nepalis who still have to wait in line for their right to use a safe and dignified toilet. The idea is to help influence the government to recognize the act of raising sanitation coverage as an essential and cost-effective development intervention.
What are the likely outcomes of the WLTQ in Nepal? It will help draw public attention to the fact that so many Nepalis lack access to safe sanitation services. It will highlight how sanitation-induced deaths of poor Nepalis can be prevented. It will make people realize that providing sanitation services is the second most effective development intervention after the education of girls. It’s not necessary that political pressures can only be created through bandhs and strikes. Giving reasons for development interventions and persuading policy-makers to change polices that result in saved lives is an alternative way to bring positive changes in New Nepal.
It is with this idea that the World Longest Toilet Queue campaign in Nepal is being organized in Kathmandu as well as in other rural parts of the country from March 20-22 2010. The message of the campaign is implicit yet obvious: Let there be no orphans in the country whose parents have to die because of preventable diseases that come out of unsafe water and sanitation. Only a consistent propagation and practice of this message will prevent Jajarkot II from happening, and will not make another Man Bahadur, Dhansari and Yam Bahadur Chanara lose their parents to diarrhoea.
Dying for children
Each year 2,500 Nepalese women lose their lives during pregnancy and labour
- Alison Buckler
- The Guardian (21-09-2009)
A woman gets a contraceptive implant at an outreach camp.
Above: an urban clinic. Photography by: Brian Sokol/Panos
Sita frowns as she recalls giving birth to her first child on a mat, in a hut, up a mountain. She was living with her husband's family in a village north of Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu. She was 16, scared and bleeding heavily, with only her mother-in-law and a collection of old wives' tales to get her through. "And then," Sita says, "she forced me to eat cow dung."
Five years ago Sita trained as a community health volunteer. She educates people about the danger of harmful medical practices (such as administering cow dung in cases of excessive bleeding), and promotes maternal health by encouraging pregnant women to access medical facilities.
Maternal health is the focus of the fifth millennium development goal (MDG5), which aims to reduce worldwide maternal deaths by three-quarters by 2015. Last year, on average, a woman died every minute from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Over 99% of these 500,000 women lived in developing countries. More than 2,500 of them lived in Nepal.
Sandwiched between India and China, Nepal is known for trekking and temples, but also for political instability (it has had 19 governments in 20 years) and a decade-long civil war, which it staggered out of as a republic in 2008. Despite this, successive governments have committed to improving maternal health. Maternal mortality has decreased by about 40%, but still every year about 10,000 Nepalese children lose their mothers to unnecessary, pregnancy-related deaths.
"Addressing maternal mortality requires a focus on three things," says Kamala Thapa from Sunaulo Parivar Nepal (SPN), the local partner of Marie Stopes International. "Family planning, safe and legal abortion and medical care during delivery."
Nepal has invested heavily in all three. Family planning services and contraception reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and are available free at government and NGO clinics. Abortion was legalised in 2002 (an important milestone because unsafe, illegal abortions are a major cause of maternal death). The Aama Programme, co-funded by the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the Nepalese government, offers financial incentives of up to 1,500 Nepalese rupees (equivalent to £12 or three weeks' wages) to women who give birth in a medical facility. The government has also trained 48,000 health volunteers like Sita to support the national health system, providing a link between hospitals and clinics, and the local community.
"The initiatives are there," says Dr Pathak from the Ministry of Health, "but what is unusual about Nepal is the combination of cultural and geographical factors that deter uptake." KP Bista, director general of the Family Planning Association of Nepal agrees. "What do you see when you look at the number of maternal deaths in Nepal?" he asks. "You see the number of women dying, sure. But you also see poverty. You see the level of education. You see the number of rural health posts and the state of the roads. Most importantly you see the status of women." He is right. A woman in Nepal is 100 times more likely to die from her pregnancy than a woman in the UK.
The majority of Nepalese people live in remote hill and mountain areas, one-third of the population live a four-hour walk from a road. A Ministry of Health report estimates that 80% of maternal deaths occur in these hard-to-reach areas of the country where women's access to medical services is limited by both geography and strict gender norms.
"What the government says on one level and what happens in the home is very different," says Sarah Sanyahumbi from DfID Nepal. The life of an educated woman in a city is very different to a woman's life in the mountains where many are discriminated against from birth. They are more likely to suffer from malnutrition, less likely to attend school, likely to be married before they are 16 and likely to have little control over their lives or their fertility. "Having children is seen as a gift," continues Sanyahumbi, "and giving birth is not seen as a medical procedure. Changing these attitudes is extremely difficult. The initiatives are great but the next steps are access and ensuring that women know about their right to family planning and healthcare."
This is where volunteers such as Sita play a vital role. More than 97% work in remote and rural areas, and are invaluable in communicating messages between the government, NGOs and the communities. Sita works in collaboration with SPN, a maternal health NGO that reaches some of Nepal's most under-served areas through mobile outreach camps. She encourages couples to visit the camp to receive family planning advice and free contraception.
Strong government policies, expanding NGO services and a network of committed community health volunteers have improved Nepalese women's access to healthcare and contributed to a decline in maternal deaths. But is it sustainable? "What we have in Nepal is a crisis," argues Ian McFarlane from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). "A pregnant woman dies every four hours. Handing out money to mothers, relying on a fleet of volunteers, this is basically crisis management. If we are to make a real difference, we need to think outside the health sector. We need better roads and better education. We need to raise the status of women, reduce domestic violence and we need more trained medical staff." Sita agrees. "Things are changing for the better," she says, "and I am very proud of what I do. But if we are to have a real impact the government needs to train more volunteers and more health workers because we are not reaching everybody that needs us."
Whether or not Nepal will meet MDG5 is uncertain. "But even if it does," says McFarlane, "we won't meet it meaningfully. We might tick the box, but there is no way that we are going to change the lives of the majority of women in this country by 2015."
But every woman reached is another life potentially saved. Manini, a coffee harvester and mother of five children, is recovering at an SPN outreach camp in the village of Sakute near the Chinese border. She has just had a sterilisation operation. "I knew I didn't want any more children" she says. "After each birth I became weaker and labour was more difficult, but I didn't know what to do. Then the community health volunteer told me this family planning camp was coming. My husband is angry but I know this is my right." Sita smoothes Manini's hair back from her forehead and asks her if it hurts. "No," says Manini resting her hands on her stomach. "Actually, yes it does," she laughs, "but it will be worth it".
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19th July 2009
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Children rescued from Indian circuses getting new lease of life
5th of August 08,Nepal News.
Activists of the award-winning Esther Benjamin Memorial Foundation has rescued 5 children and 3 adolescents from a circus in India and brought them to Hetauda Tuesday. Those rescued are aged between 12 to 18 years and were sold to the circus in return for cash.The Foundation's activists also nabbed Kirte Bahadur Tamang, 68, red handed while he was selling the children and adolescents to Rainbow Circus in Gujarat state of India and handed him over to District Police Office in Hetauda. Tamang is accused of having sold more than 20 children from his home district Hetauda to many circuses in India.A team of seven led by Foundation's Director Sailaja CM had rescued Parwati B.K, 12; Sumitra B.K, 13; Paru Lama, 13; Namuna Joshi, 15; Ram Maya Thokar, 14; Sani Lama, 16; Pawitra Gumba, 17 and Ramesh Lama, 18.Thinking that the children would end up in the same place again if they are left to themselves, the Foundation has also been taking care of the children it has brought to Nepal after rescuing them from Indian circuses, including making arrangements for their education, giving them training in different skilled jobs and providing jobs after that. Till now 168 children rescued from Indian circuses have benefited from the programme run by the Foundation.
Nepal becoming food insecure: WFP
29th July 2008, Nepal News; Nepal is gradually becoming food insecure as 6.4 million of the country's inhabitants are reeling under soaring food prices and inadequate supplies, according to a new World Food Program (WFP) report. The Market and Price Impact Assessment Report, prepared by WFP, clearly pointed out that approximately 2.5 million people in rural parts of the country are in immediate need of food assistance and an additional 3.9 million people in rural Nepal are at risk of becoming insecure due to soaring prices of food for last few months. The report presented at the Round Table Conference on the Food situation and Humanitarianism organized in the capital Monday further said, "These people are highly vulnerable to food price increase and already have a very low level of food intake. The report noted that prices of cooking oil and coarse rice have soared by 26 percent and 19 percent respectively in the last six months and that of kerosene by 13 percent. It said that transportation costs have galloped by an average of 27 percent over the review period.
Floods, landslides cause havoc in various parts of country
24th July 2008, Nepal News; Floods and landslides triggered by incessant rainfall have caused havoc in many villages across the country, putting lives of thousands of people at grave risk. Continuous rainfall for the past few weeks have inundated dozens of villages in Saptari districts, destroying properties and displacing thousands of people from their homes. According to the Kathmandu Post, the water level in the villages has reached about one meter high, ruining foodstuff, clothing and other household belongings. The report said that most flood affected villagers are currently sheltering on the rooftop of a local school. Similarly, government offices including the District Administration Office, Zonal Police Office and Nepal Telecom in the district headquarters Rajbiraj have also been inundated by the floods. Flood in Khado river has also submerged villages including Sakarpura, Mahadeva and Launiya, displacing all residents and destroying harvest and large tracts of arable land. Meanwhile, frequent landslides caused by continuous rainfall have displaced all residents of Khaptad VDC in Achham district. Reports said that over 650 people from the remote VDC are staying at a nearby jungle inside makeshift camps often in appalling conditions. The displaced villagers are said to be reeling under food shortage and face danger of contracting viral influenza and gastroenteritis.
Ram Baran Yadav becomes Nepal's first president
1st of July 2008, Nepal news; Nepali Congress (NC) candidate Dr Ram Baran Yadav has become the first president of republic Nepal, securing a comfortable majority in the presidential run-off held today.
Constituent Assembly (CA) chairman personnamew:ston givennamew:ston K.B snw:ston Gurung announced in the CA meeting this evening that Yadav had been elected president by winning a simple majority. Yadav bagged 308 votes while his rival Ram Raja Prasad Singh, who was backed by the Maoists, ended up with 282 votes. Yadav was supported by stocktickerw:stonCPN (UML), Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, stocktickerw:ston CPN (ML), Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, stocktickerw:ston CPN (United), personnamew:ston givennamew:ston Rastriya snw:ston Janamorcha, Rastriya Janashakti Party and a few other fringe parties.The 61-year-old president elect hails from Dhanusha district. He was the general secretary of the Congress party.Altogether 590 votes were cast in today's run-off poll.The run-off voting was conducted as none of the candidates reached the magic number, 298, in Saturday's election. Madhesi Janadhikar Forum candidate personnamew:ston givennamew:ston Parmananda snw:stonJ ha was elected vice president in the previous voting.Meanwhile, Nepali Congress cadres carried out huge rallies in placew:stonKathmandu and elsewhere around the country to celebrate Yadav's victory in the presidential poll.Briefly talking to media persons in CA premises, president elect Yadav said he would work for strengthening democracy in the country.
The government of Japan has agreed to provide Rs 1.77 billion in grants for improvement of the Kathmandu-Bhaktapur road.
17th July 2008, Nepal news;
Japanese Ambassador to Nepal, Tatsuo Mizuno, and Secretary
of the Ministry of Finance, Rameshore Prasad Khanal, signed the agreement to this
effect and exchanged notes on behalf of their respective governments, in Kathmandu,
on Thursday. Finance Minister Dr Ram Saran Mahat and visiting Japanese Deputy Foreign
Minister Osamu Uno were also present at the signing ceremony.
The Japanese grant will
be used to procure equipment and services necessary for implementation of the project.
Approximately 9.1km segment of the Kathmandu-Bhaktapur Road section of the Araniko
Highwaywill be upgraded by expanding the existing two-lane road to four-lanes.The
Project will also take into consideration advanced traffic engineering so as to enable
smooth traffic movement as well as protect commuters from traffic accidents, a statement
issued by the Japanese embassy said.
New species of bird identified in Koshi Tappu
5th June 2008, Nepal news
Ornithologists have said they spotted a new species of bird
in Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, making the number of bird species spotted in Nepal
863.Sykes's Nightjar, to which locals call Apurbas Chaite Chara, was spotted at Koshi
Tappu few months ago.
The bird was first spotted on the banks of the Koshi river, 3 km south of the Koshi
Barrage on January 1 this year. Experts said it took five months to have it verified.
The
newly-spotted bird belongs to the Caprimulgidae family.
Nightjars are small to medium-sized
birds having long and pointed wings and gaping mouth with long bristles, meant to
catch flying insects. Nightjars are nocturnal, with soft, owl-like patterned plumage.
European Commission pledges USD 100 million for education sector
5th June 2008, Nepal news
The European Commission (EC) has pledged an aid package
of USD 100 million for development of the education sector - to be implemented over
the period of six years.
The EC and the Government of Nepal Thursday signed a Financing
Agreement in order implement the "Education Sector Policy Support Programme" with
an initial amount of 25 million Euro (around USD 38 million) for the period 2008-2010.
This
amount is the first tranche of the total 72 million Euro that the Commission will
provide to Nepal in the next years, an EC statement said.
"In order to support the
Government of Nepal development objectives and in line with the EC-Nepal Framework
Cooperation Agreement, the Country Strategy Paper 2007-2013 has placed, as the first
priority, the assistance to Nepal in the education sector by creating an enabling
environment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals," the statement said, adding
that the education sector is expected to receive more than 100 millions US Dollars
until 2013.
Nepal becomes a federal democratic republic
28th May 2008, Nepal news
The historic first meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) has endorsed a proposal
to amend the interim constitution implementing the declaration of Nepal as a federal
democratic republic.
The officiating chairman of the CA, Kul Bahadur Gurung said that
of the 564 CA members who took part in the voting on the proposal, 560 voted in its
favour while four members voted against it.
The motion for implementing the republic
declaration was introduced by the government.
Home Minister Krishna Sitaula introduced
the proposal as per the Article 159 of the Interim Constitution, which was put for
voting. Read more>>>
SOCIAL INCLUSION OF MADHESHI COMMUNITY IN NATION BUILDING
Shree Govind Shah, Ph.D.
Ecologist
and Policy Analyst
8 February 2006
This paper was presented at the Civil Society Forum
Workshop for Research Programme on Social Inclusion and Nation Building in Nepal
Organised by SNV on 13 February 2006, Kathmandu, Nepal
1. INTRODUCTION
The Madheshi
community, in spite of having a long history of origin and habitat within the present
day Nepal, is practically considered outsiders and they have been mostly marginalized
and face exclusion in active political participation, administration and governance,
decision-making and policy planning, and moreover, they face serious humanitarian
problem i.e. of their true identity in their own native land. The Madheshi people
feel highly discriminated and has almost lost ‘the sense of belongingness to this
nation’. Since the early 1990s, Madheshi people have organized community groups and
formed societies or organizations for the cause of Madheshi community. The issues
of Madhesh and Madheshi community have been time and again raised by Jha (1997),
Lawoti (2001), Shah (2002) Yadav (2003), Gupta (2004) and few others. Most of the
Madheshi people feel that the entire Madhesh region and its inhabitants do not practically
exist in Nepal’s consciousness and certainly in the consciousness of most of the
donor community and much of the outside world. Lawoti (2001) reported a very low
level of Madheshi people (11.2%) in the integrated index of governance with none
in culture, academic and professional leadership. (read more)>>>>
The Fight Against Poverty
Namita Nepal 13/11/2007
Poor people in developing countries generally have insufficient
access to modern sources of energy - at the cost of their health, education and social
participation. Around 2.5 billion people, primarily in the rural regions of Africa,
Asia and Latin America, still depend on biomass, in other words, firewood, agri-residue
and dung, for cooking and heating.
Time
Women and children, in particular, are having
to travel farther and farther afield in search of fuel. This is a waste of valuable
time which could otherwise be used for gainful work, childcare, education and training,
or other social and cultural activities. What's more, according to WHO estimates,
as many as 1.5 million people, mostly women and children, die each year in developing
countries as they inhale smoke produced by traditional biomass burning in their homes.
Read more>>>
World Bank to pledge Rs 16b in grant
Kantipur Report
KATHMANDU, Nov 13 - The World
Bank (WB) is providing Nepal a grant assistance of Rs 16 billion for poverty reduction
and rural infrastructure expansion.
The assistance is to be approved on December
6 during the celebration of Nepal Day at the WB head office in Washington DC, said
Praful Patel, WB Vice President for South Asia.
"It is the biggest grant assistance
package the bank's board is extending to Nepal at a go," Patel told the Post, adding
that the assistance would be provided for the Poverty Alleviation Fund (PAF), irrigation
and road expansion.
The WB in recent years has been prioritizing and giving extra
focus to poor African countries. Patel said that despite being located in South Asia,
Nepal was a highly prioritized country for the WB. Read more>>>
Nearly 10,000 families displaced by floods and landslides; toll reaches 93
5th Aug
2007, Nepal news:
The Home Ministry has said the death toll in recent flashfloods and landslides across
the country has reached 93 while a total of 9723 families have been displaced.
The
ministry Sunday said 33 districts had been hit by floods, affecting 58,000 families.
Banke, Bardiya, Rautahat, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Bara, Siraha, Saptari, Sunsari and
Morang were worst hit districts.
Though life in the affected areas is gradually returning
to normal with the monsoon rains subsiding, relief missions are yet to reach out
to some of the hardest hit areas, leaving the victims in serious want of food and
shelter.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula today visited Banke and
Bardiya districts and inspected the relief operations going on there.
The Home Minister
who arrived in Nepalgunj with a team of some eight-party leaders told reporters that
the government was intensifying diplomatic efforts to minimise the problem of floods
triggered by bordering Indian dams including Laxmanpur dam. He, however, did not
clarify as to how much progress has been made from the “diplomatic efforts”.
Pokharel
visited the two mid-western districts today in the wake of fears of possible outbreak
of diseases in flood-hit areas.
In Nepalgunj, he told a news conference that the government
had made all necessary arrangements to check outbreak of diseases from taking place.
Hundreds of medics are working on the grounds with necessary medical supplies, he
claimed.
Flood victims clash with police in Inaruwa
5th Aug 07, Nepalnews
Protesting flood victims of Inaruwa, Sunsari district, clashed with the police Sunday
afternoon.
At least half a dozen police officials received minor injuries as the flood
victims of Inaruwa, who were demonstrating in front of the District Police Office
against the death of one Kushmi Devi in ‘police beating’ three days earlier. The
protesters demanded that the police administration provide compensation to Kushmi
Devi’s family.
Police officials, however, denied the locals’ claim that the 70 years
old woman died due to beating.
There have been frequent clashes between the police
and flood victims since Wednesday evening. The local administration had to impose
day curfew following violent clashes during the protests on Thursday.
NEPAL: A ban imposed on the Dalits community in Bhagawatpur village by the upper caste villagers
URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION
ASIAN HUMAN
RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAM
16 September 2004
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UA-119-2004: NEPAL: A ban imposed on the Dalits community in Bhagawatpur village
by the upper caste villagers
NEPAL: Discrimination against Dalits; Untouchables; Rule
of law