Environment: Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

Building on its long experience of providing water and sanitation services to communities, BRAC started its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme in 2006 in partnership with the Government. Our goal is to provide sustainable and integrated WASH services in the rural areas and break the contamination cycle of unsanitary latrines, contaminated water and unsafe hygiene practices, as well as ensure sustainability and scaling-up of WASH services. The programme aims to ensure access to sanitation services for 17.6 million people, hygiene education for 38.8 million people and safe water services for 8.5 million people in 150 upazilas of Bangladesh, with the support of the Netherlands Government.

The core of the programme is the Village WASH Committee (VWC), made up of 11 members - 6 female and 5 male - with representation from all stakeholder groups. The VWC meet bi-monthly to assess existing water and sanitation situation of the entire village and identify issues that need urgent action. They select sites for community water sources, collect money and monitor usage and maintenance of latrines. Committee members are also responsible for identifying ultra-poor households eligible for BRAC and the Government’s Annual Development Programme grants. In addition, committee members are also responsible for selecting poor households for providing micro loan support to install sanitary latrines and to construct tube well platform. To strengthen the capacity of VWCs, two key members from each committee (one female and one male) were provided leadership training at a BRAC facility. A total of 39,562 VWCs have been made functional throughout the programme area and 80,000 members were trained.

We are an active member of the government’s National Sanitation Task Force. We are also represented in the Government’s Water and Sanitation committees at District, Upazila and Union level as a member, which are being organized by the local government institutions.

Programme Components

Water
To provide communities with access to safe water, we undertake various activities, including development of a water safety plan, installation of deep tube wells, water quality tests and provision of loans for tube well platform construction. In arsenic and saline-affected areas, we sink deep tube wells, construct ponds and filters and arsenic removal filters and install piped water supply systems to provide safe water.


Sanitation
We raise awareness on sanitation issues, which creates community demand for facilities such as sanitary latrines. In addition to reviving existing Rural Sanitation Centres (RSC), we set up new RSC’s to increase access to sanitary latrines for communities in remote areas. We provide interest-free loans to local entrepreneurs to make quality latrine parts and training in production technology by experts from BRAC and the government’s Department of Public Health Engineering.

WASH provides technical support to those who can afford and are willing to construct latrines, ensuring proper design and site selection. Those who cannot afford to pay the full cost of sanitary latrines are provided with loans, while two-pit latrine construction materials including superstructure and mini water tank are given to ultra-poor families free of cost.

Hygiene
We know that installation of water supply and sanitation facilities is not enough to improve people’s health – good hygiene practices are essential. Our programme has adopted a number of practical approaches to promote hygiene messages that are based on socio-economic and hydro-geological conditions, culture and existing practices. Cluster meetings, using innovative communication tools, create awareness about the use of safe water, sanitary latrines and good hygiene practices. We involve imams of Mosques, religious leaders who are also key opinion leaders in rural Bangladesh, in hygiene promotion activities. We developed khutba (sermons) based on verses from the Quran and Hadith that refer to cleanliness and hygiene

We use the BRAC Shasthya Shebikas (community health volunteers) and popular theatre teams to deliver crucial WASH messages to communities –hygiene issues are incorporated in the drama scripts.

School Sanitation and Hygiene Education
Schools in rural areas either have poor sanitation facilities or none at all. The lack of separate latrines for girls is a major factor in their disproportionately high absentee and dropout rates. To address this issue, we work with secondary school authorities to provide separate latrines that have adequate water and waste disposal facilities for girls.

For better management and maintenance of the facilities, School Brigades and School WASH Committees have started working in 1,200 secondary schools. A School Brigade has 24 students, selected from grades 6 to 9. They are responsible for the proper use and maintenance of latrines as well as the overall cleanliness of the school premises. A 14-member School WASH committee is formed in each school, with the head master as chairperson and a female teacher as member secretary. To ensure representation of all stakeholders, members of the School Management Committee, guardians and students are also selected as committee members. The committee meets once or twice a month to review activities, including latrine use and maintenance. Teachers develop an action plan for effective implementation and follow-up of WASH activities.

If school children are given health education and taught good hygienic practices, they can take care of their own health and inform others. School teachers, therefore, are given orientation on WASH issues and teaching methodology in 150 upazilas. The teachers then teach their students about health and hygiene using specially designed flip charts and posters. The children are also encouraged to spread the knowledge at home and in their communities. In addition, in order to ensure proper operation and maintenance of the facilities, the schools are encouraged to create a fund to meet the water and sanitation related expenses.