Blog #2 Clean Water and Sanitation: Nepal

 



The next country I will be focusing on is Nepal, which joined the United Nations on December 14, 1955. Nepal is a country with many ongoing issues; however, one of the main concerns is having access to clean water and sanitation. Contaminated water and poor sanitation can cause people to have waterborne and diarrheal diseases; therefore, it is important that we bring global attention to the issues of water quality and sanitation.

Furthermore, “ 10.8 million people in Nepal do have access to improved sanitation, and 3.5 million do not have access to basic water services.” (UNICEF Nepal). However, Nepal has made tremendous progress in expanding access to water and sanitation in the past few decades despite some challenges. Currently, WaterAid Nepal is working in collaboration with local partners, governments, and communities to support the delivery of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services in poor communities. One of their goals is to enable marginalized communities and individuals to take action for their rights to clean water and sanitation. 

Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change such as struggling with both water scarcity in some areas and flooding in others, which can decrease river flow and freshwater resources. Also, Nepal has lowland plateaus with many water resources; however, they are often dried out due to high temperatures. Also, high temperatures are accelerating glacier melts which increases flooding. In April and May 2015, Nepal was hit by two major earthquakes which caused major damage to parts of the country. According to the WaterAid Nepal Country Strategy, it mentions that “ the recovery and reconstruction of water and sanitation infrastructure and services is estimated at $165 million” (WaterAid). Water supplies have been destroyed and many toilets were left broken. The Nepal Government has allocated a budget for reconstruction but has not been able to meet the needs of those affected quickly enough. Moreover, WaterAid Nepal wants to develop WASH systems that are resilient to climate change, disasters, and shocks.

Overall, Nepal has made significant progress in water, sanitation, and hygiene practices. As of September 2019, open defecation is no longer tolerated in the country. Now, the only primary concern is access to clean water.

References

Nepal. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.globalwaters.org/wherewework/asia/nepal

Nepal. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.wateraid.org/uk/where-we-work/nepal

Open-defecation-free Nepal: Sanitation for health, dignity and development. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://snv.org/update/open-defecation-free-nepal-sanitation-health-dignity-and-development

Water and Sanitation (WASH). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/nepal/water-and-sanitation-wash

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 4, 2020 at 2:34 PM

    Good evening Dajah,

    I really enjoyed reading your blog about the issues Nepal has when it comes to having access to clean water and sanitation. Many people do not understand that this is such an issue in many countries even it does not directly affect ourselves. I am also doing water and sanitation in other countries and I learned that most of the time, young child will die for diarrheal diseases caused by the lack of clean water resources. It's sad but I am glad to see that Nepal as well as other countries are striving to do better for themselves and their environment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. MallelyOctober 4, 2020 at 9:51 PM

    Hi Dajah.
    Your blog was interesting I learned a lot from it. I also really liked the picture it goes well with your blog and it makes it stand out more. I chose Nepal on my last blog and they do have a lot of issues going on. Clean water and sanitation is an important one or a main one to them.

    ReplyDelete

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