“Sustaining the Sanitation Revolution-India Country Paper” has been presented and published by the Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) for SACOSAN-III in 16-21 November 2008, paper is divided into two parts – rural and urban sanitation however, in both rural and urban spheres, it highlights the promising initiatives are underway to tackle the sanitation challenge in India.

“Toilets and More” published by the Department of Drinking Water Supply, Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) in SACOSAN-III November 2008, is a manual about the dissemination in all countries for achieving the common goal of new standards of hygiene, health and empowerment for the people of South Asian Region.  

“41% of women unprepared for menstruation", article written by Maria Fernandes, Indira Khurana and Richard Mahapatra and have been made available on the website of InfoChange News & features, November 2008, is a new study reveals that 41% of women respondents were not psychologically prepared for menstruation.

“Water and Sanitation in South East Asia and the Pacific” published in March 2007 by World Vision Australia and WaterAid Australia, the paper is a contribution to the debate on how best to direct Australia’s investments to meet the objective of reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development.

“Burden of Inheritance” published in October 2009 by WaterAid India, report is an outcome to understand the complex and shameful practice of manual scavenging which unfortunately still exists in our country.

This report tries to seek answers to the question: Why have we not been able to eradicate manual scavenging? To get to the bottom of this scourge, the report has first explored the question: why are people continuing in this occupation despite availability of other dignified livelihood sources? Why is manual scavenging in practice in towns and cities where other cleaner options for survival exist? When there are feasible and viable technological alternatives to dry toilets, one of the drivers of this occupation, why does the practice continue?

“Sanitation for All - Still a Long Way to Go” position paper for the Second South Asia Conference on Sanitation, Pakistan, September 2006 prepared by WaterAid India and Partner NGOs highlights the progress, key issues and challenges and recommendations for improving sanitation coverage with special focus on the poor. It is based on the experience of WaterAid India, other major sector agencies and NGOs and also takes into consideration the programme of state and national governments of India for sanitation promotion.

“Total sanitation in South Asia: The challenges ahead”, the paper has been prepared by WaterAid India in May 2006 for the South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN). The study outlines number of key emerging issues and recommendation to governments in response to the issues. Examples for this paper are taken from Bangladesh, India and Nepal.

The study, commissioned in 2008 by WaterAid India, carries an independent qualitative assessment of Government of India’s Total Sanitation Campaign (TSC) launched in 1999. The primary qualitative data generated during field visits to 40 GPs in 20 blocks across 10 districts of 5 states (2 each from a state) in India. Study states included Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, and Tripura.

This report is being released on the World Water Day 2005 by WaterAid India that with the expectation this work will facilitate a prioritisation of actions needed to address critical gaps in the water and sanitation sector in India. This also presents the water and sanitation (WATSAN) situation in India, assessing both the coverage and financing situation.

A “Counting the cost” present about the poor progress in the sanitation sector has serious health implications for South Asia. According to the study 2.5 billion people worldwide live without access to adequate sanitation, one billion in South Asia. Globally, 1.2 billion people practice open defecation, two thirds – 778 million – in South Asia. In Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan, poor sanitation now stands as a major obstacle in the fight to reduce child mortality.