Pay attention to WASH sector, activists urge govt

Bangladesh's budget allocation for water, sanitation and hygiene sector has been declining over the years, posing a knock-on effect on the health and education outputs, activists say. At a post-budget reaction, organisations that work in this sector, collectively known as WASH, on Saturday bemoaned that the sector lacked government attention. “If you compare the proposed budget for the 2015-16 fiscal with that of 2007-2008, then you will find allocation has actually declined by 0.03 per cent, though total outlay increased by 30 per cent,” Shamim Ahmed, head of policy and advocacy, WaterAid Bangladesh said. The sector in the last three years had spent almost all of its allocation and yet the budget was slashed, Ahmed said, attributing “lack of government attention” for this. The government’s focus on mega-infrastructure projects like Padma bridge might have led to the cut in WASH budget, he said. The impact can be massive with girls avoiding going to schools during their menstrual cycle due to lack of toilets and children facing malnutrition due to lack of hygiene practices.

Disparities grow

But the disparities in allocation between cities and within the WASH sector are also “growing”. The organisations presented a set of statistics analysing last eight years of WASH budget to pinpoint the disparities. For example, of the total allocation, 48 percent goes to Dhaka City Corporation alone. Of them, sanitation and hygiene together get only 30 per cent. The allocation is “almost nil” in coastal areas, chars, and Chittagong Hill Tracts. In the proposed 2015-2016 budget, allocation for WASH sector was Tk 293 per capita. It is supposed to be Tk 900, according to the 2007 MDG review. Representatives of the WaterAid, Unicef, the Human Development Research Center, Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, Fresh Water Action Network South Asia, Bangladesh Wash Alliance, End Water Poverty Representative, Bangladesh Water Integrity Network Coordinator and NGO Forum for Public Health Advocacy were present at the press briefing at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity. They urged the government to reduce the budget gap in this vital sector for the sake of public health, according to bdnews24.com.