<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161144/636d1cd69c7e80680e0af37ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1331" height="888"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>After a dozen or so people were admitted to a hospital in Delhi with suspected omicron strain of Covid, neighbouring <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-on-high-alert-for-omicron/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal is on a high alert</a> fearing a similar outbreak that ravaged the two countries earlier this year.Although the new variant is said to be more transmissible and resistant to existing vaccines, the good news is that those infected have only reported mild symptoms.Studies the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have found out that the omicron strain was already circulating in Nigeria from October, and it was already in Europe before flights arrived from South Africa last week.Until more is known about the new virus strain, public health experts in Nepal have recommended that people get vaccinated if they have not done so already, wear masks and avoid crowds for now. The WHO on Thursday advised those above 60 and with co-morbidities to avoid air travel for now.Epidemiologists have recommended strengthening safety measures over travel restrictions, which is often too late to entirely stop the surge as seen during the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-real-cost-of-nepals-second-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">devastating second wave</a> in the subcontinent. Nepal has issued travel ban on eight African countries and Hong Kong.“General people are now letting their guards down, public places are most crowded than during normal times, people have all but forgotten about social distancing, and masking has become minimal,” says virologist Sher Bahadur Pun at Teku Hospital.Mutations are natural but the higher the spread of the existing virus, the higher the threat of more virulent variants to arise. Public health experts have blamed the rise of new strains on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hope-hyperbole-and-hypocrisy-of-covax/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">inequitable vaccine distribution globally</a>.Roughly 30% of Nepalis are now fully vaccinated and with 30 million more doses of various vaccines in the pipeline, the Health Ministry has set a goal to vaccinate the entire targeted population by mid-April. The government has also expanded vaccinations to everyone above 12.Nepal’s vaccine infrastructure and network of community health workers have played a significant role in reaching the far corners of the country with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/do-nepalis-need-covid-booster-shots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 jabs</a>. But now the challenge is to increase vaccine acceptance among those who have so far refused to take it.This means better communicating pandemic risks and training more healthcare workers to administer the vaccine. The information that is regularly shared through the Viber group, composed of hundreds of health officials and open to the public, is not necessarily accessible to everyone due to language barriers.“Covid related information is either in English or Nepali, people who don’t speak either have a hard time accessing them. Language equity has been a major issue,” says Bijay Acharya of the Nepal-Johns Hopkins University Advocacy Group, adding that this has also exacerbated misinformation spreading through Whatsapp and Facebook as people attempt to informally translate and interpret information about the virus.Lack of translation can also affect the ability of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-health-workers-battle-covid-19-but-also-stigma/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community health workers</a>, who act as the front line of information about the pandemic, to counsel their communities on the vaccine and how to best protect themselves.In what is now termed as ‘vaccine discrimination’, the US, Australia and the majority of the European countries do not recognise all the Covid vaccines equally. Such discrepancies have been most notable in the case of labour migrants and foreign students who have been barred from their station because they didn’t receive mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer or Moderna.“Even those who are fully vaccinated with a viral vector booster will only be considered partially vaccinated and there will be lot more issues like this in the future,” adds Acharya.China’s VeroCell <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-jabs-and-jabnots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">is still largely unaccepted</a> while Indian-made Covishield is not recognised even in countries that accept AstraZeneca. This is unfortunate at a time when Omicron with multiple mutations in the spike protein is on the rise. mRNA vaccines primarily target this protein, rending it ineffective against the new strain.Experts say that only VeroCell, Covaxin which is manufactured by Bharat Biotech, are made from inactivated viruses and are better placed to ward off new spike proteins in mutants.The pandemic has also affected routine <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pandemic-hits-non-covid-vaccines-for-children/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">childhood immunisation</a> in countries like Nepal. Lockdowns and fear of contracting the virus have stopped many parents from travelling to health clinics for measles, polio, whooping cough or tetanus shots. Nepal has also seen a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/children-are-collateral-damage-in-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rise in  maternal and infant death rates</a> during the pandemic due to reduced institutional deliveries.Officials say it will be important for the Nepal government to be prepared with oxygen, ICU beds, medicines and medical staff to prepare for a new Coid-19 surge in spring. A measurement widely used by epidemiologists, called excess mortality, is applied to contextualise the differences in deaths during a pandemic compared to a normal year.Excess mortality data, however, may not be applied in the case of stateless people, have no documentation or property and where families have no interest in reporting deaths. There might also be deaths that cannot be recorded or accounted for. Nonetheless, this will help governments prepare for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/economic-cost-of-5-months-of-nepal-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economic slumps</a> and with informed decision-making.Adds Acharya: “Excess mortality data can be used to predict the future and inform future preparation. Just looking at excess deaths in Nepal in the past five years will give us a good idea about how to respond to pandemics.”

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

Nepal needs to prepare for new Covid wave

<figure><img width="1400" height="1050" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28a59c7e80680e045883jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: SONIA AWALE</figcaption></figure>For someone who jet sets around the world, hobnobbing with governments and scientists to promote affordable and ecological toilets, Roshan Shrestha found out for himself just how difficult maintaining loos can be during a recent visit to his home in Nepal.The Seattle-based 55-year-old sanitation expert (pictured below) found that the septic tank at his family home below Swayambhu was overflowing. But he had no clue who to turn to, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-to-take-a-dump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">how to get it emptied</a>. “I did not know where to go,” recalled Shrestha during a break at a Faecal Sludge Management Conference last week in Cape Town. “If it was so difficult for me, I can only imagine how hard it must be for the general public.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/toilet-trained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toilet trained</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/where-to-take-a-dump/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Where to take a dump</a>, Bhushan TuladharShrestha finally got in touch with a private service provider and got the problem fixed after a few days. With over 30 years of experience in improving sanitation, Shrestha was promoted last month as Deputy Director of the Urban Sanitation Markets at the <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation</a> (BMGF).Shrestha is a leading authority in the field, and involved in the BMGF’s <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Growth-and-Opportunity/Water-Sanitation-and-Hygiene/Reinvent-the-Toilet-Challenge-and-Expo" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reinvent the Toilet Challenge</a> that has scientists around the world competing for the best design of a new generation of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/toilet-trained/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">toilets</a> that do not use water, are cheap to install and easy to operate.Shrestha has been recognised for promoting water and sanitation projects in Nepal with his new responsibility at the BMGF, a philanthropic arm of the founder of Microsoft.Says environmental expert Bhushan Tuladhar: “Roshan is passionate about sanitation, and does not treat it as just another job. He has great commitment and perseverance. His success is well deserved and it is only fitting that the foundation has recognised it.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/getting-our-shit-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Getting our shit together</a>, EditorialThe Gates Foundation’s Brian Abrogast said of Shrestha’s promotion: “Roshan Shrestha has been the best ambassador the foundation could ask for, exuding respect and compassion while generating admiration – and impressive results.”The BMGF’s toilet challenge has prompted top scientists from China, India and other parts of the world to come up with innovative new designs, from solar-powered smart toilets that generate hydrogen and electricity to sanitation systems that convert human waste into biological charcoal, fuel gas, minerals and clean water.Shrestha had humble beginnings in a public school in Kathmandu before getting an MSc from Tribhuvan University in 1988. He worked in a water analysis laboratory to test the water in the Bagmati River. And later founded <a href="http://enpho.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Environment and Public Health Organisation</a> (ENPHO) that specialises in research and monitoring. Later, he got a PhD from a university in Austria in limnology, the study of inland water bodies. On his return, Shrestha successfully marketed the popular water purifier called Piyush.Shrestha went on to introduce Nepal’s first wetland system in Dhulikhel for small-scale wastewater treatment and reuse, and designed Nepal’s first faecal sludge treatment plant in Teku in 1998.“It was at this point that I realised that water quality would never improve without upgrading sanitation. At the root of water pollution is poorly managed sanitation,” said Shrestha, who then became involved in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dont-wait-for-melamchi-nepal,3765" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rainwater harvesting</a> and turned his residence into a model eco-home complete with urine diversion dry toilet.After a stint at UN HABITAT as a South Asia region technical adviser, he was convinced toilet technology had to be less water-intensive to improve sanitation in the developing countries. “We claim to have over 90% <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/getting-our-shit-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latrine coverage in Nepal</a> but most structures do not meet required standards, and that is why we need a new breakthrough in toilets,” said Shrestha.The Gates Foundation has invested heavily in developing new  technologies that can destroy pathogens on site through faecal sludge management.“If a vast country like India can clean up its act, why can’t Nepal? All we need is political will and proactive leadership committed to improving sanitation,” adds Shrestha, whose foundation is currently developing a new course on sanitation at Kathmandu University, and working with Nepal Bureau of Standards on a new <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15235#.XHfVCMAzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">toilet</a> standard.Here in Cape Town at the global conference he helped put together,  Shrestha says his goal is still to go back to Nepal: “I plan to head home, but after we have developed an adaptable technology for safer sanitation in developing countries so we can promote it in Nepal as well.”

Sonia Awale

Toilet trained expert

<img width="1584" height="1108" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a26569c7e80680e043a0djpeg.jpg" alt=""/>At <a href="https://www.international-alert.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">International Alert</a>, as a global peacebuilding organisation, we often point to Nepal alongside <a href="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/%2520identical-political-trajectories-in-Nepal-and-South-Africa,4057&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj1r8WljLjgAhVBP48KHQScCPYQFggFMAA&amp;client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;usg=AOvVaw2RTo4ewDKjXsEgz2vOJ76F" target="_blank" rel="noopener">South Africa</a> or Northern Ireland as a country working through a peace process successfully, proving that peace can be writ large.  Of course, all three countries are still beset by troubles and the peace is far from perfect. In Northern Ireland, for example, today <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/24/implications-of-brexit-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brexit</a> threatens the peace agreement, while in South Africa entrenched economic apartheid persists. But the guns have fallen silent, and stayed silent. Given that globally, half of all peace deals fall apart within 5 years, that is quite an achievement.Recently, International Alert and our partner <a href="http://fwld.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Forum for Women, Law and Development</a> (FWLD) held a meeting in Nepalganj for victims to meet with the local service providers – local government, district administration, the hospitals, businesses and social services. The aim was to get practical help at the local level, while still pushing for a national solution.And <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-struggle-for-transitional-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the scars of war</a>, still unresolved, were still fresh: One man told us how on 8 July 2001, the Maoists cut off his leg, suspecting him of being an informer. Six times he has approached the government offices seeking medical support, but no-one listened to him. <img width="1949" height="777" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a265a9c7e80680e043a0ejpeg.jpg" alt="">The man sitting next to him told us that his leg was cut off the very next day on 9 July 2001: “My house was destroyed and I was tortured by the Maoists. I get interim relief but not adequate compensation. I registered my case with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/12-years-later-justice-is-a-mirage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> and so want to know what is going to happen next.” He wears an artificial leg, but has to treat himself.  Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/12-years-later-justice-is-a-mirage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12 years later, justice is a mirage</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-in-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justice in transition</a>, David SeddonCalmly, patiently, a woman spoke up for all those waiting for men who have disappeared, calling simply for the truth, another for a lost son, another for a missing father. A woman said she was blindfolded and raped by security forces in the barracks. Severely traumatised and suffering from serious uterus problems to this day, she needs medical support and psychosocial counselling. But like too many others, she is left without support and justice.These victims and their families are struggling to be heard by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), the two bodies in charge of pushing forward transitional justice in Nepal. Both have so far failed to deliver, despite having registered 63,000 complaints. This week, the four-year tenure of both <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-in-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice commissions</a> were extended, and new Commissioners will be appointed.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-country-for-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">victims of sexual assault, rape</a> and torture, for example, have not received any support – no recognition that they are victims, no interim relief, no compensation. That is deeply demoralising for the victims and International Alert has been calling on the Nepal government to support a gender responsive <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice process</a>.  Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-country-for-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No country for women</a>, Shreejana Shrestha <img width="1280" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101148/636a265d9c7e80680e043a0fjpeg.jpg" alt="">These initiatives desperately need substantial funds with matching political will to ensure progress. The wounds of war cannot be left to fester and must be proactively addressed. If the Nepal government seems <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lacklustre to prioritise</a> these issues, the victims’ groups are full of gritty determination. People are more than ready to mobilise to find the truth, support victims to receive compensation and find new work or to mourn their loved, lost ones. To be more effective, the civil societies and victim groups must come under one common platform to take the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/justice-delayed-justice-denied-transitional-justice,3556" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice advocacy</a> ahead.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Just not justice</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/rocky-transition-to-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rocky transition to justice</a>, EditorialNepal still has an opportunity to move forward the transitional justice process constructively in the coming months and to address truth, justice and reparation for victims. But this work needs the Government of Nepal to step up, and it needs donors to commit. If we want peace to last (and who does not?) then it needs long term, patient investment.Which is why the long time frame of the US Global Fragility and Violence Reduction Act is so vital. The bi-partisan Act was passed overwhelmingly through the House of Representatives on 28 November. If it passes the Senate, it commits the US Government to invest in 10 countries (five  already at war, five fragile) over 10 years, with coordination across all government departments from USAID to the military.Too often, governments lose interest in countries once the crises are past. NGOs are left with one or two-year projects sputtering to an end and no donors in sight to continue investing in building everyday peace. But that is to ignore the evidence and misread the public.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of impunity</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/justice-delayed-justice-denied-transitional-justice,3556" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justice delayed, justice denied</a>, EditorialEvidence shows that peacebuilding is effective, and also cost-effective. Every $1 spent on peacebuilding saves $16 in the costs of war, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. A 2018 global poll undertaken by International Alert with the British Council found the public strongly favour ‘dealing with the reasons why people fight in the first place’ and ‘supporting societies to deal with conflict peacefully’, as effective means of creating long-term peace.So in 2019, the community of peacebuilding organisations will be pushing for the US Act to be passed into law, for other governments to adopt the approach, and for concrete progress for victims in Nepal as another building block of lasting peace.Harriet Lamb, CEO of International Alert and Rabina Shrestha, Manager of International Alert Nepal

Nepal’s transition to peace needs justice

mainNavigation

footerNavigation

opinionSubnav

south-africa

Nepal needs to prepare for new Covid wave

Toilet trained expert

Nepal’s transition to peace needs justice