Introduction

Department of Water Supply and Sewerage (DWSS) implemented Manpower Development Project in 1983 with a prime view to empowering DWSS staff for planning, programming, resource mobilization, implementation and monitoring of Water Supply and Sanitation (WATSAN) program activities. Emphasis was given to enhance the skills of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) sector stakeholders in line with a broader national objective of providing safe and clean water and basic sanitation services to every Nepali citizen and improve the quality of their life.

Followed by this initiative, the training unit was established in November 1987 within DWSS to work as the center for manpower planning; and imparting trainings to staff of DWSS, WaSH sector partners and users. UNDP, WHO, UNICEF and ADB supported this training unit technically and financially for organizing trainings and developing IEC materials. UNDP and WHO had funded the WaSH sector training activities through a four-year project ‘Human Resource Development for WaSH sector’ which ended in 1997. The Training Unit served a number of national and international agencies for Human Resource Development (HRD) in various forms and capacities. These initiatives indeed became the corner stone to institutionalize Central Human Resource Development Unit (CHRDU) as a Human Resource Development Center for WaSH sector in the country. The government then renamed CHRDU as the National Water Supply and Sanitation Training Center (NWSSTC) in 2014. NWSSTC could achieve ISO 9001: 2008 Quality Management System in 2014 and it has been upgraded to ISO 9001: 2015 Quality Management System in 2017.

Scope of HRD

NWSSTC serves in the following areas of HRD activities in WaSH sector to capacitate managers, engineers, sociologists, program officers, sub-engineers, technicians, women workers, social mobilizes, sanitation volunteers, teachers, WaSH users committee members, school child clubs, masons, etc as per need and requirements:

• Institutional development
• Community management and mobilization
• Planning, programming, implementation and monitoring
• Total sanitation and related issues
• Water quality monitoring and surveillance
• Design of water treatment plant, waste water treatment and solid waste management
• Computer based survey, design, estimation, construction and supervision of the different components of WaSH projects
• Technical aspect in WaSH (e.g. rain water harvesting, eco-san, Sanitation Safety Planning etc.)
• Development of report, papers and proposal on thematic issues
• Information management and networking
• Gender, economic cultural and socio-cultural aspects
• Approaches, modalities and tools in WaSH
• Hospitality management and team building
• Administrative and fiscal management
• Construction and contract management
• Documentation and publication
• Operation and maintenance of WaSH facilities including pumping stations, Water Treatment Plants
• Plumbing and masons training
• Research and development on thematic aspects
• Proposal writing
• Knowledge management

Strategy

NWSSTC works with a vision of empowering the WaSH sector related stakeholders to promote the sector as a whole. It aims to capacitate local bodies, public enterprises, NGOs, CBOs, WaSH users’ committees, clubs, tole committees, teachers’ and school child clubs to explore and mobilize their hidden potentiality by generating an enabling environment through skilled and well motivated human resources at national, district and local levels. NWSSTC Revolving Fund Implementation Procedure- 2055, approved by the Council of Ministers, Government of Nepal (GoN), has authorized NWSSTC to generate and mobilize the financial resources through conducting training, seminars and research activities as well as consulting services by bidding or negotiating with Government, Donors and National and International NGOs. NWSSTC has adopted the tailor-made HRD interventions to be compatible with the local needs; and it is ultimately dedicated to strengthening the capacity of local level institutions in the context of federalized governance in the country.

Key Result Areas
The key result areas or the perceived benefits of HRD in WaSH sector are visualized as follows:

• HRD activities results in building alliance among the stakeholders and generating sensitized mass for the betterment of the sector.
• Capacity development of the users for over all planning, programming, implementation and follow up leads to maintain WaSH projects.
• Enhancement of technical and managerial skills of human resources increases their individual capacity and social exposure for engaging in income generating activities.
• HRD of users ultimately capacitates them to sustain the WaSH based on cost recovery approach.
• HRD activity enhances group dynamism, innovative and creative qualities of stakeholders that help enhance quality of the program.
• HRD interventions empower and sensitize the local communities to optimally mobilize the huge under-utilized local level resources in WaSH sector, which will fulfill the resource constraints being faced by the sector.
• Generation of productive human resources will help for poverty alleviation, gender empowerment and prosperity and well-being of the nation.
• Enhancement of the capacity of private entrepreneurs to design, develop and implement effective and efficient WaSH projects in order to lessen the burden of the Governement.

Strategic Interventions of NWSSTC

Currently, NWSSTC has been conducting orientation workshops by targeting all elected representatives of Local Governments (Palikas) in the district as a whole. The main aim of this initiative is to enhance the knowledge and skills of the target groups in the field of water quality, WaSH planning and Total sanitation. This intervention begun from Rolpa district from fiscal year 2076/7 and NWSSTC has planned to scale up across the country. In addition, it has emphasized on following aspects:

• Training Need Assessment,
• Training Effectiveness Assessment
• Capacity Development Master Plan,
• Development of Roster of Training Experts,
• Capacity Gap Assessment of WaSH Coordination Committees,
• Documentation and Archiving of learning
• Preparation of training manuals
• Online course
• Training Management Information System