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Bangladesh Water Integrity Country Programme

ENSURING BETTER WATER AND SANITATION SERVICES AND GENDER EQUALITY THROUGH INTEGRITY


school children wading through green water on way to school, Bangladesh
On the way to school, Bangladesh, photo by Sony Ramany, WIN photo competition entry
Dates

2009-Current


Partners

Bangladesh Water Partnership (BWP), Change Initiative, DASCOH, Development Organisation for the Rural Poor (DORP), ITN-BUET, NGO Forum, WAVE Foundation


Programme focus

  • Research for advocacy and policy on service exclusion and integrity, including on:

    • regulatory systems for integrity and Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS)

    • prevalence and drivers of the very sensitive issue of sexual corruption (sextortion) and the way it impacts primarily women 

    • integrity risks in the way resources are used for development and maintenance of WASH facilities in schools. 

    • accountability and citizen engagement in climate adaptation work 

    • integrity failures and regulatory concerns on wastewater treatment and pollution in the garment industry.  


  • Support to the Bangladesh Water Integrity Network (BAWIN), launched in 2009 as a joint advocacy group for water and anti-corruption stakeholders.


  • Integrity management for service providers to manage integrity risks and improve performance and service delivery, with three of the largest utilities in the country (Khulna WASA, Chattogram WASA, and Rajshahi WASA) as well as several city corporations (using InWASH) to address customer relation issues, billing, metering, human resources, and accountability of field staff.


  • Strengthening capacity and involvement of local water committees and municipalities for rural water supply.



SUPPORT INTEGRITY WORK IN BANGLADESH

Help reach new service providers, make sure sanitation reaches everyone in the city, and strengthen the CSOs that make integrity a reality in Bangladesh:


Contact the programme lead:

(acting Lead: Mary Galvin)



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HOW THINGS ARE CHANGING



Towards new regulatory systems for CWIS

The Bangladesh government is looking at setting up a stronger regulatory system that addresses integrity risks, in light of new research with ITN-BUET highlighting strengths and weaknesses of current policy for advancement of Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS). ITN-BUET is offering free training to support the change.







Communities set up systems to manage their finances more transparently

Following IMT SWSS training by WIN and partners, DASCOH engaged with youth groups in the Rajshahi district. They also organised a ‘democratic dialogue’, where stakeholders clarified local needs and roles and responsibilities of people engaged in WASH.


Together, stakeholders of the Pirijpur Water Scheme, which reaches over 1000 people, decided to focus on making sure collected money is saved and sufficient to expand and run the system, and on overcoming people's refusal to pay. The system managers are now working on a simple billing system, opening a bank account, setting up a simple bookkeeping system, and setting a transparent tariff.


‘‘We have never been called before in such a decision-making process. After training we will be able to contribute to proper water supply for many people that are living in hard-to-reach places."

-Mst Roksana Parvin, an elected women representative of local government on the work in Prijpur




Utilities engaging with customers and reducing scope for malpractice 

In Bangladesh’s third largest city, the Khulna Water and Sewerage Authority’s (KWASA) streamlined billing as a result of its work using InWASH. By introducing new software and processes, they now keep better customer records and have reduced undelivered bills by 75%, which has led to increased revenue. For higher customer satsifaction and transparency, KWASA also engaged with the media and launched a series of public hearings where they present company strategy and plans.


In Chattogram, also as a result of using InWASH, CWASA improved and diversified customer complaints channels and now logs and follows up more systematically. It also streamlined its field inspection processes to increase accountability. (Read more on CWASA's integrity work here.)



Ground-breaking research 

A 2022 research initiative on sextortion, carried out with partners DORP and Change Initiative in 2 rural and 2 urban areas of Bangaldesh is the largest of its kind in water and sanitation and reveals how much sextortion is underreported.


Research into the garment industry’s wastewater management in 2017 revealed gaps in regulatory enforcement and factory compliance, with significant pollution of local waterways. This research has highlighted the need for stronger regulations and enforcement on wastewater treatment to protect public health and the environment


purple water released from a pipe
Water from a garment factor that should have functioning wastewater treament systems , photo by ENRAC


Safeguarding school WASH resources 

In schools in southern Bangladesh, looking at WASH in schools with an integrity lens has led to the mobilisation of students and teachers for better school WASH and a better understanding of rules and responsibilities for development and maintenance of school WASH facilities. The research, led by DORP, and involving students, parents, school authorities and local municipalities, is the basis of advocacy to safeguard the resources schools and municipalities are supposed to allocated for WASH facilities in schools.


Read more here about how DORP led the work and the results in schools.



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MORE PUBLICATIONS


Regulation and Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS)





WASH in Schools

English:

Bengali:


Integrity Management for utilities


Wastewater and the garment industry



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