Samundradevi Village Development Committee in Nuwakot district has been declared Open Defecation Free Zone.

Shiva Kumar Shrestha, chief of Water and Sanitation Division Office and member secretary of the District Water Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Committee (DWASHCC) in Nuwakot declared the VDC as ODF zone amid much fanfare in the presence of the representatives of various agencies on December 30.

“Representatives of political parties including Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN Maoist-Centre, Ward Citizen Forum, Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHV), students and teachers of various local schools, local radio stations, civil society organizations, local people, among others, were present in the function,” states press release issued by OXFAM. 

Oxfam Nepal and its local partner organization--Community and Rural Development Society Nepal (CARDSN)—had provided construction materials, labor and other assistances for building toilets for 204 households in the VDC. Oxfam also provided financial support to VDC-level Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Coordination Committee (VWASHCC) to support ultra poor households for building toilets in the VDC.  

Representatives of the political parties Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, CPN Maoist-Centre expressed their views on the occasion.

Similarly, Shiva Kumar Shrestha, chief of Water and Sanitation Division Office and Bholanath Phuyal, chairperson of VWASHCC lauded Oxfam and its partner organization for providing support for building toilets in the VDC and making it possible to declare the VDC as ODF. They also handed over a letter to appreciation to Oxfam on the occasion. Oxfam Nuwakot Programme Manager, Arun Kanta Paudel also expressed his views on the occasion.

Out of 61 VDCs in the district, Samundradevei is the 13th VDC declared as ODF in the district.