Disparity widens in WASH resource allocation over the years

Almost no change occurred in water, sanitation and hygiene budget allocation for urban (80% - 83%) and rural (17%-20%) areas in five years widening the current gap in deliveries among regions, WASH sector experts told a programme on Monday. 

There is inequality, where cities and towns have received the highest share of the allocated funds compared to rural, char, hilly, and coastal areas, they observed.

"The highest ADP allocation goes to metro cities (WASAs) while the secondary towns and hard-to-reach areas remain at the bottom. But the main challenge of WASAs is non-revenue water (NRW)," said Sanjoy Mukherjee, WASH expert at Department of Public Health Engineering at a workshop while making a keynote presentation on 'Integrity issues in the WASH sector'. 

There are technical reasons and a lack of integrity involved in making NRW high, Sanjoy added.

German-based Water Integrity Network (WIN), NGO Forum and Bangladesh Water Integrity Network (BAWIN) jointly organised the workshop titled 'Water Integrity and Role of Media in Promtoing Integrity' to create awareness among media professionals.

Water integrity means using powers and resources ethically and honestly for the provision of sustainable and equitable water and sanitation services. It is built through transparency, accountability, participation and the proactive implementation of strong anti-corruption measures.

According to the WIN, 10% of the water sector investment is lost due to corruption.

Sanjoy Mukherjee said that the National Integrity Strategy (NIS) of Bangladesh was approved in 2012 with the aim of uniting Bangladeshi society to achieve the integrity of the nation by enhancing awareness of government institutions as well as of the entire nation where public administration has a vital role.

NGO Forum Executive Director SMA Rashid called upon the WASH sector stakeholders to work collectively to achieve SDG 6 goal on WASH.   

He said that all stakeholders must work to implement the national action plan and strategy on water and sanitation to ensure safe water and safely managed sanitation for all by 2030.

"The UN declared safe drinking water as a human right. Media can play an effective role in ensuring this human right for the disadvantaged people in hard-to-reach areas or poor people living in cities who do not know what their rights are," he said.