Hi friends I am back with a report. Few months back I got an opportunity to visit a preparatory consultative meeting for South Asian Conference on Sanitation V (SACOSAN V) and had prepared this report. Luckily I got an opportunity to participate in the follow up program of it a week back for which I have prepared another report. this report is just to set the back ground for the upcoming report on evaluation made by Nepal in delivering the commitments made in SACOSAN IV and introduce you all with the SACOSAN V event that will be held in Kathmandu from 21-24 October 2013. 

A preparatory consultative meeting for 5^th South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN V) was organised by Jal Sanjaal and Fresh Water Action Network South Asia (FANSA) on 10th July, 2013 at Trade Tower, Thapathali in Kathmandu.

Informing about the objectives of the meeting Country coordinator of Jal Sanjaal, Ms. Lajana Manadhar said, ?SACOSAN V is being hosted by Nepal from October 22-24. Government has been preparing for it from its own side, however civil society is still inadequately aware about the progress made so far. The main objective of this meeting is to share the progress made by the government so far and identify the roles that civil society can play in making this conference a huge success.? She also requested the participants of the meeting to come up with suggestions so that the voice of all citizens whether able or differently able, people from rural or urban be heard in the conference. She urged the participants to ensure participation of women in the conference and motivated all to put their voice strongly as women are the actual actors in field of sanitation improvement in any part of the world.

Explaining more about the program details, Ms Lajana Manandhar said, ?Public opening will be done on 21^st October in Bhaktapur under the leadership of civil society, however the official opening will be done by the ministers on 22^nd at hotel Yak and Yeti.? She also shared planning of exhibition public events, exposure visit for the ministers and requested to ensure opportunity to present at least one paper from civil society during each plenary session. She expected at least 33% seat will be allocated for CSO.

In the same program Mr. Prem Nidhi K.C from Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) described the details of the conference. ?SACOSAN V with the slogan Sanitation for All: All for Sanitation, will mainly focus on ways of  to accelerate sanitation progress in South Asia, improve peoples? quality of life, sensitize policies and reduce child mortality and morbidity rate? he shared. He also informed about the plenary session that are going to be held during the program and told that Nepal will chair the media advocacy part in the conference.

He said that for the first time, in the history of SACOSAN, virtual conference will be organised so that people can share their ideas and open discussion during the conference and all the necessary preparations are being made. It was also mentioned that SACOSAN V will have special plenary session of 2.5 hours to sensitize ministers from different countries. ?An inter-ministerial coordination committee consisting ministers/secretary from 7 different ministry under the leadership of MoUD has been formed which is managing all the necessary management from governments side, however the role of civil society is crucial? he shared. He also suggested to that it is better if both civil society and the government collaborate and have single voice rather than having same agenda in different voice. He also confirmed respectable participation of civil society however the number of seats for CSOs was not defined as yet.

Regional communication coordinator of FANSA Mr. Prakash Amatya, facilitated the floor discussion after mentioning about the roles played by civil societies in different SACOSAN conferences. He urged participants to suggest their views and identify the roles of civil society in the upcoming version of SACOSAN as well.

The floor suggested ensuring authentic participation via proper registration and selection mechanism by the government.