Apart from water and sanitation interventions, WAC Nepal has also developed various capacity building programmes to generate trained and capable human resource and institutions at the local level in water and sanitation sector.
Capacity Building, Dissemination, Demonstration and Promotion of Rainwater Harvesting in Kathmandu and selected towns in Nepal
Despite the fact that Nepal is one of the Asian countries with the highest level of water resources, water crisis both in terms of quantity and quality in many urban as well as rural areas is shocking. In the urban centers surface water sources alone has become inadequate to cater to the increasing demand of growing population. Groundwater is the other best resource targeted by the suppliers and the consumers' alike leading to unsustainable water resource management. The potential to harvest rainwater is very promising in Nepal which sees an average rainfall of about 1500 mm. Looking at this potential and the water scarcity scenario of the country, a programme has been initiated to build capacity on RWH system and to disseminate, demonstrate and promote this technology in Nepal.
A three-pronged approach has been proposed for the efficient and effective implementation of rainwater harvesting. - DISSEMINATION of concept and skills of rainwater harvesting targeting professional and practicing Architects, civil engineers, architecture and civil engineering students, civil societies, plumbers and house/structure owners (with emphasis on women participants)
- ESTABLISHMENT of demonstration sites in four different institutions
- PROMOTION of audio, visual, press materials on a regular basis
Capacity Building on Arsenic Awareness in Parsa In the Terai region of Nepal where about 90% of the 12 million people depend on tube wells for water, there is lack of general awareness and understanding of arsenic and microbial contamination of water and treatment techniques among the different stakeholders like villagers, community groups, government officials, health workers, teachers, policy makers, etc. This is a major bottleneck for rapid dissemination of water treatment technologies, preventing enormous health and economic benefits from reaching the affected people. In this context, a capacity building programme has been initiated in Parsa, one of the arsenic affected districts in the Terai region to increase the awareness and knowledge of arsenic and microbial contamination in drinking water sources and suitable treatment options among various stakeholders. Capacity Building on Reedbed Wastewater Treatment System
UEIP programme is being implemented in nine small towns in the country with the objective of improving environmental sanitary conditions of these selected towns. One of the components in the UEIP programme is the establishment of RBTS for wastewater treatment. However, there are limited professionals who can design the system and supervise during its construction. In this context, a capacity building programme has been developed to train municipal and UEIP project engineers in designing, supervision, operation and maintenance of the RBTS. This will facilitate in establishing RBTS in all the nine small towns under UEIP. A community scale RBTS also will be established to demonstrate the technology at the community level for all the UEIP programme areas. Capacity Building and Pre Testing of UN-HABITAT’s Values Based Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education Manual in Nepal
Values based water, sanitation and hygiene education (VBWSHE) is a process in which individuals gain awareness of their living environment and acquire knowledge, skills, values and experiences, and also the determination, which will enable them to act – individually and collectively – to solve present and future water, sanitation and related hygiene problems. In this context, UN-HABITAT has developed a VBWSHE manual for teachers including lesson plans for pupils of different age groups. To be able to provide VBWSHE in the schools and communities of Nepal, plans are under way to adapt the current manual in the Nepalese context and to pretest it in selected schools. At the same time, a strategy will be developed for capacity building in VBWSHE at the national level.
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