RANGPUR, May 3 (BSS): Over 0.13 million (1.33 lakh) char households have achieved hygienic sanitation and pure drinking water facilities to improve their health status reducing water borne diseases in the remote char areas in 10 northwestern districts.
The laudable success has been achieved by the extremely poor families with assistance of the comprehensive Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP) in the hardly reachable riverine char islands on the Brahmaputra basin since 2004.
As a result of achieving sanitation and pure drinking water facilities, health index of the char people, who already won over extreme poverty with the CLP assistance, has marked a significant improvement with reduction in the neonatal, maternal and child deaths.
Earlier, poor sanitation caused ill health to the parents, especially to mothers, affecting child health directly through spreading water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery and jaundice afflicting people in many ways in the char areas.
Under the programme, 0.13 million targeted extremely poor households living in island chars of Kurigram, Bogra, Gaibandha, Sirajganj, Jamalpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Pabna and Tangail are enjoying sanitation and pure drinking water facilities now.
The UKaid through the Department for International Development, Australian Government through Australian Agency for International Development and Government of Bangladesh are funding CLP implementation.
The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives has been sponsoring implementation of the comprehensive programme with the management through Maxwell Stamp Plc.
The comprehensive CLP activities are aimed at eradicating extreme poverty of the have-nots group char families through income generations to improve their livelihoods, life standard and health status to change socioeconomic conditions by 2016.
Livelihoods Coordinator of CLP Dr. Mahbub Alam told BSS that the multi-dimensional CLP activities are being implemented by the local partner NGOs in the riverine char islands to achieve the goals.
More than 0.51 million people of targeted 0.13 million extremely poor char households are being benefited now under the CLP phase-I during 2004-2010 and phase-II during 2010-2016 periods to improve livelihoods as well as overall life standards.
The CLP has been working with char households to improve their livelihoods through providing package supports for animal husbandry, assets, hygiene, sanitation, pure drinking water and raising plinths for income generations under adverse situations.
Head of Programme Coordination of RDRS Bangladesh, one of the CLP implementing organisations, Monjusree Saha said the char people lacked minimum sanitation facility even a decade ago basically sheltering sick mothers, kids and a bleak future.
