Boosting inclusive sanitation for all  

Safe sanitation with hygiene is of great importance in the social life of Bangladesh, both in its rural and urban parts. The basic need for a sanitation system maintaining the highest standard of hygiene is closely related to safe public health. While the country’s rural areas over the decades have established an efficient sanitation infrastructure, the scenario is quite different in township settings. Public toilets are scarce in urban areas, be it small towns or large metropolises. Neither the governments nor private sectors or philanthropic organisations give much attention to the need for safe sanitation. Of late, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has come forward to establish an inclusive sanitation infrastructure in 10 district towns of the country.

The bank is providing $56 million to Bangladesh for establishing modern sanitation systems in 10 towns on a priority basis, to ensure hygiene and sanitation in those regions. These 10 towns are – Cumilla, Pabna, Jamalpur, Natore, Shariatpur, Sirajganj, Laxmipur, Bagerhat, Narsingdi, and Patuakhali, according to a media report.

The Local Government Division recently undertook a project titled “Inclusive Sanitation and Hygiene Project in 10 (Ten) Priority Towns in Bangladesh” to ensure sustainable sanitation and proper health service in the project areas. As part of this project, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Finance Ministry and IDB signed a loan agreement in the capital’s ERD office on Sunday. The IDB will provide $56 million under the agreement – $36.4 million will be as loan and $19.6 million as a grant. The project costs are estimated at Tk 559.68 crore, of which Tk 166.20 crore will come from the government exchequer. The Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) will implement the project by December 2026. The main components of this project include setting up 10 modern waste management systems along with 10 human waste management systems.

Safe and inclusive sanitation has for too long been placed low on our list of priorities. Women, the elderly, and the physically challenged population lack proper sanitation set up in almost all parks, markets, and other public places in urban areas. The very concept of hygiene and sanitation are rarely taught in educational institutions. The importance of public health cannot be a matter of low priority any longer. The IDB is one of the leading and trusted development partners of Bangladesh. The purpose of the bank is to foster the economic development and social progress of member countries and Muslim communities individually and jointly in accordance with the principles of Islamic Shari’ah. The bank’s initiative towards inclusive sanitation is praiseworthy. Inclusive sanitation will ensure access to different categories of people to use safe sanitation facilities. These categories of people include those who cannot use standard designs, for example, children, older people, pregnant women, or persons with disabilities. Growing up in a clean and safe environment is everyone’s right. Access to clean water, basic toilets, and good hygiene practices keep people thriving and give them a healthier life. According to a survey, despite Covid-19 putting the spotlight on the importance of hand hygiene to prevent the spread of disease, three billion people worldwide, including hundreds of millions of school-going children, do not have access to handwashing facilities with soap. People living in rural areas, urban slums, disaster-prone areas, and low-income countries are the most vulnerable and the most affected.

Among developing countries, Bangladesh stands out as one that has made good progress in basic sanitation and reducing open defecation. Globally, there are still 2.2 billion people without access to safe drinking water and 4.2 billion who don’t have a safe place to go to the toilet. While Bangladesh has impressively eliminated the practice of open defecation, over half of Bangladeshi homes still do not have access to at least basic sanitation, and 45 per cent of homes do not have access to safely-managed water services, according to the 2017 WHO/UNICEF report based on national data. The very concept of inclusive sanitation should be on the government’s priority list. All urban areas all the districts should come under the inclusive sanitation scheme.