Background scenario of Delhi pre meeting and SACOSAN III revealed that engagement with government did not ignite in SACOSAN but prior to the regional conference in respective countries. The official delegation from Nepal was very receptive to CSO opinion as they were well in advance consulted and convinced by CSOs in Nepal.
Inter country working group (ICWG) could be taken as the platform for influence. There were good decisions made in the ICWG meeting. There should be proper follow up mechanism for ensuring effective implementation of these decisions. The clarity in mandate of ICWG could yield in increasing effectiveness.
Media engagement should be pro-active for raising people’s concerns and pressurizing government to be accountable towards SACOSAN commitments. The media networks at national level could be culminated to the regional level to ensure bottom up approach of networking. Creativity in engaging media should be ensured; writing articles in media is not enough. True media campaign should ensure increased policy and public discourses.
True representation of grass roots representatives in the consultation should be ensured. Preparatory consultations at the local level both before and after SACOSAN would be supportive in raising people’s concerns and mobilizing local community for pressurizing government representatives in materializing their commitments.
Global framework for action (GF4A) is essential for responding financial and political failure of combating the global crisis of sanitation. GF4A regional meeting in Asia and South Asia is planned for November/ December 2009. The Annual High Level Meeting is planned for 22-23 April 2010 at Washington DC. SACOSAN IV could shape global high level meeting to be held in spring 2011.
FAN focus more on capacity building, grassroots voices and knowledge sharing. EWP emphasize on campaigning and global framework for action. WaterAid contribute more on research and capacity building of partners. WASH support multi-stakeholder and individual linkage building. These strength should be capitalized, whilst standing in solidarity with others, it should increase the effectiveness of own advocacy initiatives.
Rights based approach essentially focuses on change in power relationship. Right to water and sanitation can be both Rights based approach and Need based approach based on process and community engagement.
Madurankuliya and Nikarvaratiya field trip showed the success of any project initiatives depend on the level of community engagement. There should be no mistrust, no egoism and working with full transparency smoothened the sailing of these community initiatives.
Country program shared their tentative plan of action. Nepal plan of action incorporated following aspects:
• Review existing plan and strategies on SACOSAN
• Potential actions and procedures
o Share outcomes of CSO SACOSAN and status of SACOSAN progress
o Consultations for proper coordination
o Integrate with existing campaigning initiatives
o Review SACOSAN progress status
o Lobbying meetings
o Media campaigning
o Process documentation and knowledge management
The experiences of Sri Lanka showed that meeting the last mile of total sanitation coverage was more challenging than earlier phases. It indicated need for more conscious and strategic efforts in other countries of the region to plan more vigorously for reaching these final targets of sanitation.
CSO should dream and envision SACOSAN IV scheduled for February 21-25, 2011. The visionary concept should be the baseline for identifying roles of the concerned agencies. The influencing roles of CSOs should be made pretty clear so that there can be uniformity and synergy both at national and regional level. The consultation meeting encouraged CSO stakeholders to dream big so that no one in South Asia will be deprived from basic sanitation services.
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