Lively interview in Image FM Channel

In the morning while coming to office received a call from the media person who wanted to talk with me for knowing more about EWP campaign. I was very excited as it was another good opportunity to share about the campaign and our calls. I inquired what are they looking for and came to know that they were more interested in knowing about our campaign and its historical background. I was thrilled and bit nervous thinking if I can articulate well or not. I wished if I was provided more time to prepare for the interview, but it is life you do not get all you want and you have to be happy with what you have and make best use of it!

I collected all the reports, sent mail to Jennean and Steve and searched EWP websites so that I can provide them all the historical background. I was not hungry even at lunch thinking that I have to prepare so that I can face the media well and give justice to their program. In the mean time, I also have to prepare para for our MPB that provided more opportunity to articulate about what is EWP in a concise form. I was all set for the interview.

There was a phone call that I was waiting since morning. They inquired about the water and sanitation status of the country. I shared that the government record shows that there is water coverage of 77% and sanitation coverage of 46%. I emphasized that 42 districts out of 75 districts of the country are below national coverage. WAN study showed that 56% of the schemes are waiting for the rehabilitation. More than 10,000 children are dying because of poor water and sanitation services. There is increased budget but we need to emphasize on equitable and effective implementation of the allocated budget.

It is a global problem and the global commitment is required to improve the status of water and sanitation that gave rise to EWP global campaign activated by around 90 organizations demanding for global framework for action. The campaign was formally launched from March 2007 at global level and June 2007 in Nepal. The major achievements at the national level was the initiative of government in developing Master Plan of Sanitation, Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Policy and increased budget in the sector. There should be moving beyond the sector for wider campaign for the concern. The glamorous figure of Kollywood celebrity Jharana Thapa has been well mobilized. All these efforts resulted in the SACOSAN III Declaration where water and sanitation are regarded as human right.

The radio program has been a useful media for sharing our future work. I shared that there can be some mass action on World Water Day in Kathmandu and the districts where our alliance members are working. I also briefed about other key activities of our campaign. They raised the question on the selection of the districts and shared that the districts are selected on the basis of low coverage.

They wanted to inquire about the pace of government in these water and sanitation in meeting the targets. I shared that the country need to develop 14,000 toilets (10,000 in rural and 4,000 in urban) to meet MDG target. We can reach the target if we slightly increase our pace and join our hands together. I shared more on the need for the consolidated and coordinated efforts for increased impact. While I was talking about MDG Target, there was an electricity cut off and the line was disconnected. Fortunately, it was nearly at the end and later the broadcaster called me to thank me for the interview and told me that he will anchor whole SACOSAN III declaration for reminding government not to forget to implement these commitments after putting their signature!