Guidelines on school led total sanitation

Till 1980s, low priority was given to sanitation as compared to water supply and other development programs due to lack of policy level commitments, poor program implementation and failure of community's identification if its needs. Attempts were made to institutionalize sanitation as a prioritized sector with the launching of Water and Sanitation Decade in 1980 upon the call of the United Nations. In 1998 the Steering Committee for National Sanitation Action (SCNSA) was formed under the chairmanship of the Director General of the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) comprising the stakeholders. That time onwards, SCNSA took initiatives to institutionalize sanitation as a highly important issue through an effective coordination with the stakeholders and support from UNICEF. As a result, remarkable achievements have been made in personal, familial and environmental sanitation. The participatory approaches like Basic Sanitation Package (BSP), School Sanitation and Hygiene Education (SSHE) program and National Sanitation Week Campaign (NSWC) are being adopted as the promotional. The enhanced partnership among stakeholders, implementation of participatory approaches, effective advocacy and social mobilization and community's increased commitments are key factors contributing to community sensitization, change of the behaviors and promotion of latrine and other sanitation facilities in school and communities. It can be observed from the fact that access to latrine in Nepal increased significantly from 15% in 1996 to 40% by the end of 2004. Despite the persistent efforts of the stakeholders for sanitation promotion, about 60% people are still deprived of basic sanitation facilities. And some 13,000 children under five continue to die of diarrhoeal disease each year. This adverse situation has by and large affected the socio-economic development of country. Nepal State of Sanitation Report -2000 reveals that the county continues to bear a loss of some 10 billion rupees each year for health expenses due to poor hygiene and sanitation. [authors abstract]