Census 2011 data on district sanitation coverage and number of houses without toilets in the different districts of Nepal indicates the urgent need to launch a focused campaign in 8 districts of central and eastern Terai belt – Parsa, Bara, Rauthaht, Sarlahi, Mahottari, Dhanusha, Siraha and Saptari. According to the census data, all the 8 districts have very low sanitation coverage, while the district with highest number of houses without toilets is Sarlahi and the district with lowest sanitation coverage is Saptari. The average sanitation coverage in these 8 districts is only 27%.
Besides the low sanitation coverage, the poverty headcount rate of Terai is the lowest i.e. 28% [1] compared to other ecological belts of Nepal which is 33% and 35 % in mountain and hill respectively. As per the income based poverty scenario, Eastern Terai is the lowest compared to other region i.e. 33%. The government data indicates that among people within the poorest quintile only 4% have improved toilets and 9% have unimproved toilets (NPC, 2013).Based on the needs mentioned above, government of Nepal, with the support of the GSF programme and other partners, is launching an intensive campaign focusing on the eight Terai districts. This monthly Bulletin provides a summary of the activities and achievements of this campaign