BBC Media Action in India, an international charity of the BBC, presented an FSM communication campaign, designed to drive positive FSM behavior among general populations. The presentation was held on 8 July during 8:30 pm – 10 pm (BDT) using the Zoom online platform.
The campaign title is, Malasur, the demon of defeca. It is a demon that lives underneath us. The theme was adopted coalescing two words, ‘Mal’ which means poop and ‘Asur’ means demon. So, the Malasur is the Demon of Defeca, an invisible danger lurking around our water. The campaign relates the dangers of open dumping or unsafe disposal with water contamination and encourages everyone to fight against the Malasur. BBC Media Action has developed the campaign that can be used by any local urban bodies having non-sewered or onsite sanitation system.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India, recently adopted and launched this campaign nationwide, with the Minister of State, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, launching a toolkit for the campaign.
The Water Sanitation and Hygiene team Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation facilitated the meeting. BBC Media Action has been working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on both urban and rural sanitation in India, since 2015. The Foundation’s partners from Bangladesh, Nepal, Indonesia and BBC Media Action’s country representatives from the above-mentioned countries participated in the meeting. With support from Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, Deputy Director at the Foundation, ITN-BUET facilitated the participation of Bangladeshi partners. Around 60 participants from DPHE, ITN-BUET, Municipal Association of Bangladesh, WaterAid Bangladesh, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Practical Action and WSUP Bangladesh attended the meeting.
