Online Global Training Programme on Faecal Sludge Management in Rural Areas, 30th October - 12th November’20

The Rural Water-Waste Management Team conducted its second two-week online training on faecal sludge management in rural areas. The training was attended by 86 participants from different countries of Global South. The participants were from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Greece, Philippines, and African countries like Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, and Ethiopia. Government officials, Non-profits, Consultants, students and Academicians participated in the programme. The objective of this training was to advocate the necessity of safe treatment, disposal and/or reuse of faecal sludge in the rural areas and build the capacity of the stakeholders on these issues.

The online training involved self-study, online interactive discussions and live interaction with the experts. The live session enabled the participants to interact directly with experts like Dr. Krishna Rao- Consultant who talked about the basics of Faecal sludge management and existing technologies, Mr. Anurag Gupta-Water Aid who talked about the safe toilet technologies and retrofitting, A team working on Swachh Bharat Mission (G) Karnataka inclusive of Dr Vishal-Mission Director and Commissioner Swachh Bharat Mission (G), Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department, Karnataka , Annie Philip- Lead - Compliance and Regulatory Policy-Saahas Zero Waste,  Archana Tripathi- COO, Saahas NGO, Ms. Sandhya Haribal-CDD talked about the policy aspects and Mr. Devidas Kisan Nimje- Samarthan talked about implementation on ground covering aspects like technologies, communication aspects through a case study. Apart from this various live doubt clearing sessions with the course coordinators, discussion forums helped participants interact and put forward their learnings enabling a better learning environment. This also motivated other participants to actively engage in the program. The participants appreciated the training programme. Participants also showed interest in attending the course physically when things become normal.