WaterAid in Nepal - www.wateraid.org

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world and has major water supply and sanitation problems. In the hill areas the main problem is the distance to water sources. Having settled on ridge lines high above fresh water sources, it often takes an hour or more to walk to collect water in the dry season. Women and children may spend up to 6 hours a day collecting water. In the Terai, where groundwater is usually easily available, the problem is more one of water quality with many people taking drinking water from shallow tube wells and traditional, highly polluted open wells or irrigation canals. Arsenic has been identified in 31% of the tubewells. Water related diseases are prevalent, particularly among children. Approximately a third of deaths in Nepal are children under five, half of which are due to diarrhoea.

WaterAid began work in Nepal in 1986 and it now works with five NGO partners in rural and urban areas. Much early work focussed on creating and strengthening Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH) as a specialist NGO and together WaterAid and NEWAH have helped over 450,000 poor people in rural Nepal. NEWAH is now WaterAid’s single largest partner in any programme worldwide and the largest water sector NGO in Nepal.

WaterAid and NEWAH have:

• implemented 450 rural water, sanitation and hygiene programmes serving 400,000 people;
• provided water, sanitation and hygiene promotion to 3% of the total rural population;
• partnered with 230 local organisations including NGOs, Small Farmer Development Groups and Red Cross branches.

The political situation in Nepal continues to be unpredictable following the ceasefire breakdown, increased Maoist insurgency and the King taking direct control of the country after dismissing the government. As a result WaterAid Nepal is operating in an increasingly challenging environment. However, through WaterAid and its partners' conflict-sensitive approaches, continued reassessment of the situation and the refocusing of operations to lower risk areas of the country, they are confident that the likelihood of the conflict disrupting work will be minimised. In 2006/2007 their rural work will be concentrated on 8 Terai districts and 7 hill districts in the Eastern, Central and Western regions.

In Nepal WaterAid and its partners use the following approaches. Water supply projects are integrated with sanitation and hygiene to maximise health benefits. Technologies are chosen that are appropriate to local conditions, affordable and easy to maintain. In the hills projects use gravity flow piped supplies, spring protection work and simple and ventilated improved pit latrines. In the Terai tubewells and pour flush latrines are more common. In Kathmandu traditional wells are rehabilitated and shallow tubewells installed.

WaterAid’s programme aims to help build the capacity and confidence of local NGOs, district water authorities, and communities to construct, manage, operate and maintain projects themselves. The most disadvantaged groups in society are targeted. Caste is a basis for major divisions in Nepal so WaterAid’s partners adopt caste sensitive programmes, ensuring that dalits, the most oppressed caste, are included in decision-making and that separate taps are provided for their use if necessary.

The Everest Marathon Fund has paid for many village projects and made a substantial contribution towards staff salaries. In Lekh Gaun in Far West Nepal one gravity flow supply serves 50 households and one school with 5410m of pipes, 6 tap stands, 12 latrines (to date), 38 plate racks and 12 garbage pits. In Lamindanda in Mid West Nepal 3 gravity flow supplies and 1 spring protection provide clean water for 73 households via 7 tap stands with 3336m of pipes, 45 latrines, 42 plate racks, 35 garbage pits and 54 kitchen gardens! The villagers had to supply free land and construction labour. All projects are owned and managed by the communities concerned.

One new project we are hoping to support in the future is fog farming. In Eastern Nepal, the environment is characterised by water laden fog in the summer months. Atmospheric water is abundant and clean, so fog represents a viable water source that can be collected with simple, passive technology. Giant mesh nets suspended on ridge lines intercept moving fog and millions of water droplets trickle down into tanks. So far 3 communities have benefited, collecting as much as 5,000 litres of water per day for drinking and sanitation. Due to the simple technology, fog collection can be managed by the communities themselves. With the time saved from water collection, they can pursue other income generating activities and children have increased time to devote to study.