THE SMALL EARTH NEPAL

Together We Stand for Sustainable Lifestyles

Nepal National Water Week 2013

17 – 23 March 2013

The Small Earth Nepal, secretariat of Nepal National Water Week-2013, conducted a week long program from 17 to 23 March 2013 in Nepal to mark the World Water Day and World Meteorological Day. These global events are being celebrated in Nepal since 2008 under an umbrella network of Nepal National Water Week with the chair of Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS), Government of Nepal. This year UN-Water has dedicated World Water Day 2013 (WWD 2013) with the theme International Year of Water cooperation and slogan for this year is – water, water everywhere; only if we share.

Since 1993, 22 March is commemorated as the World Water Day as means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for sustainable management of freshwater resources. Similarly, 23 March is commemorated as the World Meteorological Day.

Various activities of NNWW-2013 were:

Pre-Week Activities

1.Press Meet

The Press-meet of Nepal National Water Week 2013 was held at the Water and Energy Commission Secretariat (WECS) meeting hall on 14 March, 2013. The main objective was to highlight the theme, objectives and share proposed programs for the World Water Day celebration. The press meet started with welcome remarks from Mr. Bishwa Prakash Pandit, Chairperson of NNWW-2013 and Secretary of WECS. Mr. Mahendra Bahadur Gurung, Vice Chair of NNWW-2013, presented shortly on backtracking of World Water Day Celebration and activities of past four years. He also shared the proposed programs for NNWW 2013. Mr. Sudarshan Rajbhandari, Secretary of NNWW-2013, Vice President of The Small Earth Nepal, read out the press release.

2.National Children’s Painting Competition

On behalf of NNWW-2013, SEN, in collaboration with Nepal Tunza Youth Environment Network (NTYEN) – a youth network of UNEP TUNZA in Nepal organized the National Children’s Painting Competition for the children of age 6-14 years, from 2-24 February 2013 in Kathmandu Valley. There were 150 entries, among which 33 paintings were sent to the Regional Office of Asia Pacific (ROAP), UNEP in Bangkok, Thailand for the “22nd International Children Painting Competition. Fifteen selected paintings were kept for display during the opening ceremony and the winners of the competition were also awarded in closing ceremony of NNWW.

3.Facebook photography competition on the theme “water, water everywhere, only if we share”

As a part of Nepal National Water Week -2013, SEN organized Facebook Photography Competition from 18 February –17 March, 2013. All together 36 photographs were submitted in the competition among which 21 photographs were selected and posted on NNWW page in facebook. The winners were declared during the closing ceremony. The winner of the competition was Mr. Ankit Bilash Joshi whereas Ms. Sangita Maharjan became the first runner up and Ms. Anisha Pokharel won the title of second runner up. A consolation prize was awarded to Mr. Kamal Bhattarai. All the selected photographs were displayed at the venue of closing ceremony.

4. National Water Café 2013 on Water and Sanitation

From 8 to 15 March, SEN SEN, in collaboration with Nepal Tunza Youth Environment Network (NTYEN) – a youth network of UNEP TUNZA in Nepal organized the national water café for the school children to raise awareness about water and sanitation. The café program was conducted in three schools of the three districts of the Kathmandu valley. About 90 students actively participated in the event. The program was supported by UNICEF Nepal.

5.Installation of Rainwater Harvesting System in one of the community schools in Kathmandu valley, Chundevi Shiksha Lower Secondary School, Khokana, Lalitpur

On the occasion of NNWW 2013, SEN, in collaboration with WaterAid Nepal and One Planet Solution Pvt. Ltd., installed a rainwater harvesting system plant, in Chundevi Shiksha Lower Secondary School, a community school in Khokana, Lalitpur. The installation program took from 1 – 14 March. About the 150 school children are expected to have direct benefit from the project. During the Week Activities.

6.Opening Ceremony

National Water Week 2013 was commenced with the inauguration ceremony and it was graced by the Chief Guest, Mr. Madhav Prasad Ghimire, Minister Home and Foreign Affairs by pouring water onto a plant. The ceremony was held on 17 March at Nepal Tourism Board, Bhrikutimandap. The program was chaired by the Secretary of WECS and many representatives form national and international organizations were present in the dais. About 150 people from government and non- government organizations, researchers, academicians, students, journalists attended the program. The Director General of ICIMOD, Dr. David James Molden gave his keynote speech on water cooperation in the program.

7.Motivational Training on Rain water Harvesting to School Principals of Kathmandu Valley

A motivational training on Rain water harvesting was given to school Principals of Kathmandu Valley on 19 March at The Small Earth Nepal’s training hall. Total of 20 participants from different schools actively participated in the training. The representatives from Smart Paani/ One Planet Solution highlighted on the issues of Basic Information on collection and components of Rain water harvesting. The participants were then taken for the observation visit to Saraswati Secondary School, Thecho, Lalitpur where a rain water harvesting plant is being in operation.

8.Fourth National Symposium on Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Management of Groundwater Resources of the Kathmandu Valley

The Fourth National Groundwater Symposium was organized to mark The World Water Day on 22 March at Hotel Himalaya, Kopundole, Lalitpur. The symposium was inaugurated by the Chief Guest, Mr. Kishore Thapa, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development. The objectives of groundwater symposium were to share research works and study related to groundwater of Kathmandu valley, its issues, challenges and opportunities. The program was jointly organized by The Small Earth Nepal (SEN), in collaboration with Center of Research for Environment Energy and Water (CREEW), Environment and Public Health Organization (ENPHO), Practical Action Nepal and Kathmandu Valley Water Supply Management Board.

9.Weather Café, Weather Forecast for Climate Change Adaptation

On 23 March to commemorate the world Meteorological Day and also as a part of the NNWW-2013, SEN organized a weather café, where the intellectual personalities of the environmental sector, particularly weather science, participated actively sharing ones views and ideas regarding the topic. The program was held at the SEN office Budhdanagar, Kathmandu. The program was supported by Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Government of Nepal.

10. Visit to Post ODF/Total Sanitation community at Chitwan, Practical Action, Chitwan

On 18th of March, a group of about 30 people from different sectors; students, government officials, Red Cross representatives, journalists, social mobilisers and the members of NNWW 2013 organizing committee visited a community located at Shardanagar, Chitwan. The community has recently been declared as the Nepal’s first Total Sanitation community. The project was initiated with the support of Practical Action Nepal. The participants observed how WASH program has effectively being run with the active involvement of the community.

11.Training on Application of Geographic Information System (GIS) in Water Resource Management

From 19 to 21 March, SEN organized a training program on “Application of GIS in Water Resource Management”, at the training hall of SEN. Mr. Bholanath Dhakal, lecturer in Geography from Tribhuvan University, and Mr. Piyush Dahal, Program Coordinator from SEN served as the resource persons for the training program. Twenty Post graduate students attended the training program. All the participants were awarded with the certificates.

12.E-discussion ‘Ensuring Transboundary Cooperation for Water Security in Ganges Basin’, UNESCO

As one major event of NNWW-2013, SEN organized an e-discussion on the theme “Ensuring transboundary cooperation for water security in the Ganges Basin” from 9 March to 18 March. It attracted 551 registered participants from over 10 different countries. The discussion was done on three themes – necessary groundwork for transboundary cooperation, sharing benefits/risks, context of hidden resources and role of academia and/or academic diplomacy for transboundary cooperation. The discussion was supported by UNESCO, SEN, Center for Research of Environment Energy and Water (CREEW), and International Research Center for River Basin Environment, University of Yamanashi (ICRE-UY).The discussion was moderated by Dr. Bhanu Neupane from UNESCO, Dr. Vishnu Pandey of ICRE-UY, Mr. Dilli Ram Bhattarai from SEN and Mr. Piyush Dahal from SEN. Dr. Pandey shared the outcomes of the discussion in the closing ceremony of NNWW.

13.Water Heritage Walk, at Patan area, on 20 March

On 20th of March, SEN, organized a Water Heritage Walk around the stone spouts of Patan area. Mr. Prayag Raj Joshi, Sanitation Engineer, Department of Urban Development and Building Construction and the researcher of ancient stone spouts, facilitated the event and led to some of the major stone spouts of the Patan area. About 30 participants including the organizing committee members, students and journalists took part in the walk. The two-hour walk was started at Pulchowk and ended up at Chyasal.

14.Documentary Show, at Himalayan Institute of Science and Technology and Rotract Club of Dillibazar

During the week, SEN, in collaboration with Rotract Club of Dillibazaar, organized documentary show entitled Himalayan Meltdown at the Himalayan Institute of Science and Technology and Rotract Club on 21 and 23 March respectively. About one hundred viewers attended and show.

15. Closing Ceremony

The week-long event was wrapped-up with the closing ceremony at Hotel Himalaya, Kopundole, Lalitpur on 22 March, 2013. The ceremony was chaired by Mr. Bishwa Prakash Pandit, Secretary, WECS and Chairperson of NNWW- 2013. Chief Guest, Mr. Umakant Jha, Honorable Minister, Ministry of Energy, Science, Environment and Technology, Irrigation graced the program. In the program, all the activities of the NNWW 2013 were shared and all the supporters were acknowledged. The Chairperson awarded prizes to the winners of Facebook Photography Competition, National Children’s Painting Competition and Letter of Appreciation to all the sponsors, supporters. The closing ceremony was followed by  dinner.