South Asian confce on sanitation begins today

More than 250 delegates including eight ministers from nine countries are expected to attend the conference, said Sayed-Ur-Rahman, joint secretary of the LGRD ministry at a press conference yesterday.

Delegates from the Saarc countries and Afghanistan and Myanmar will deliberate on measures to ensure sanitation of the people.

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Representatives from private sector, civil society, external support agencies and the media will also take part in the conference organised by the Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives.

The conference aims at accelerating the progress of sanitation and hygienic activities in South Asia to enhance the quality of life in fulfilment of the Millennium development goals and the commitments made in the world Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.

Sayed-Ur Rahman said the government has undertaken a National Sanitation Campaign to bring the country under 100 percent sanitation coverage and to ensure personal hygiene by 2010.

At present, 33 percent of the urban and rural population are under sanitation coverage, he added.

According to a paper presented at the briefing, the sanitation picture over past decade has been dismal in Asia despite manifold achievement in other areas.

Only 39 percent of the population in South Asia and 48 percent in East Asia and the Pacific have sanitation facilities, the paper said citing the Human Development Report-2002.

Three out of eight UN Millennium Development Goals -- reducing child mortality, combating diseases, and ensuring environmental sustainability -- are directly linked to sanitation, speakers said at the briefing.

Sanitation is a critical requirement to ensure hygiene, healthy life, nutrition, wellbeing and above all education, said the World Health Organisation's Environmental Health Advisor Han A Heijnen.

"The conference will facilitate enhanced sanitation with political commitment from the participating ministers together with finance and technical support provided by the development partners," Heijnen said.

Chief of Unicef information section Naseem-Ur-Rehman was present on the occasion.