News On Air | ‘Swachhotsav’ to be celebrated on International Day of Zero Waste

Mar 29,2023

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is organising Swachhotsav- International Day of Zero Waste: Rally for Garbage Free Cities in New Delhi on March 29. Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri and UN Resident Co-ordinator, Shombi Sharp is to attend the event.

First International Day of Zero Waste
March 30 will mark the first-ever International Day of Zero Waste. Last December, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on a zero waste initiative presented by Turkey, declaring March 30 as the International Day of Zero Waste.

The Day aims to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, support the societal shift towards circularity and raise awareness about how zero-waste initiatives contribute to the advancement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The theme this year is ‘Achieving sustainable and environmentally sound practices of minimizing and managing waste.’

Swachh Mashaal March
The Swachh Mashaal March is to set the tone for the ‘Women-led Swachhotsav’, where citizens will rally for Garbage-Free Cities on March 29, 30, and 31st, 2023. This will be followed by cleanliness drives at public places, open plots, water bodies, railway tracks, and public toilets in every ward of a participating Urban Local Bodies (ULB). Over 2,000 cities have already joined hands for the Rally.

Key Discussions
Over 350 delegates i.e., Mayors, Commissioners, Mission Directors, Business and Tech experts, women and youth leading sanitation, technical institutions, development partners, etc. are expected to attend this event. Swachhotsav – International Day of Zero Waste: Rally for Garbage Free Cities, will witness discussions and best practices presentations on the following:

1. Circularity in Garbage Free Cities (GFC)
2. Women and Youth for GFC
3. Business and Tech for GFC
4. Fireside chat with Mayors
5. The event will be organised by MoHUA in collaboration with GIZ, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, UNEP.

Swachh Bharat & LiFE Mission
To focus on sanitation coverage and initiatives, PM Narendra Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014, as the world’s largest behavioural change programme in sanitation. The movement was reinforced with the vision of ‘Garbage Free Cities’ aiming at scientific solid waste management by the SBM- Urban 2.0 launched by the Prime Minister on October 1, 2021.

The concept of ‘Lifestyle for the Environment (LiFE) was introduced by PM Modi at COP26 in Glasgow on November 1, 2021, in line with UNEP’s Sustainable Development Goals. He called upon the global community of individuals and institutions to drive LiFE as an international mass movement towards “mindful and deliberate utilisation, instead of mindless and destructive consumption,” to protect and preserve the environment.

Women-led Swachhata
As India, under its G20 presidency, has hailed the cause of women-led development, the nation proceeds towards an inclusive development where women are also actively participating in the process.

Union Minister Hardeep S. Puri launched Swachhotsav, 3-week women-led Swachhata campaign from March 8. The campaign aimed to recognize and celebrate the transition from women in sanitation to women-led sanitation. A series of events and activities were organized across cities to celebrate women from all walks of life, who provide leadership in making the mission of GFC a success. The 3-week campaign will culminate in a Swachhotsav event on March 29, as a run up to the International Day of Zero Waste on March 30.

Under the campaign, the first edition of Women Icons leading Swachhata (WINS) Awards 2023 was also announced to recognise high-impact women entrepreneurs or women-led enterprises working for urban swachhata. A unique peer learning initiative, Swachhata Yatra, has been rolled out wherein SHG members engaged as waste entrepreneurs are getting the exciting opportunity of inter-state travel. Acting as Swachhata Doots, many of these women are first time travellers and this enriching experience is offering them a platform to see, interact and learn.1