The Central Department of Economics (CEDECON), Nepali Tribhuvan University (TU) and the European Union launched a water-supply-related project worth 3 million Nepali rupees (42,857 U.S. dollars), The Himalayan Times reported on Wednesday.

According to the report, the project is for "Capacity Building for Enhancing Local Participation in Water Supply and Sanitation Interventions in Poor Urban Areas." To meet the Millennium Development Goals for water supply and sanitation in poor urban areas, the CEDECON will develop training modules and identify strategies to strengthen local communities, policy makers and effectively involve them in water supply and sanitation in poor urban areas.

Presenting CEDECON's role and activities in the project on Tuesday, associate professor of TU Bishwa Nath Tiwari said "20 case studies that involved local communities in water supply and sanitation in poor urban areas of Bangladesh and Nepal would be studied to identify their practices and procedures."

Based on the conclusion of these case studies, curriculum and training modules will be developed to provide technical instruction to policy makers, grass root organizations and enhance capacity of local communities, Tiwari added.

According to the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report, 2006, only 27 percent have access to sanitation facility and 72 percent have access to drinking water in Nepal.

The government allocates only 3 percent of the total budget on drinking water and sanitation.

Ranjan Prakash Shrestha, project manager of the European Union said, "This is one of the programs of the European Union in the Asians countries to strengthen the environmental dialogue between Asia and Europe through the exchange of policies, technologies and best practices that promote more resource-efficient, market driven and sustainable solutions to environmental problems in Asia."

He also added that the project aims to support a series of preventive and corrective actions, which materialize in technical solutions that contribute to both quality of life and economic prosperity in Asia.

The project worth 222,171 euro (288,822 U.S. dollars) is to be implemented by four organizations in two Asian countries, Nepal and Bangladesh, and two European countries, Spain and The Netherlands.

Source: Xinhua