Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Tajul Islam called for increased support from development partners in the Water Supply, Sewerage, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) program.
He made the call in a zoom video conference from his official residence on Mintu Road in the capital on Tuesday (May 5) afternoon.
This virtual meeting was held on ‘Bangladesh Strategy Paper on Water Supply, Sewerage and Hygiene (WASH) during and after Covid-19’.
Speaking as the chief guest at the conference, the Minister said, we are on the right track in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. But unfortunately we have to work to alleviate the global corona pandemic. We are organized under the leadership of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. I hope that with the collective efforts of all, we will be able to overcome the damage caused by this pandemic.
Tajul Islam said the Department of Public Health Engineering under the Local Government Department is working as one of the empowered institutions of the Bangladesh government to implement the Water Supply, Sewerage and Hygiene (WASH) program. Development partners including UNICEF are cooperating in this regard in Bangladesh. Their cooperation needs to be enhanced to meet the financial needs mentioned in this strategy.
He said various activities are already underway across the country for installation of hand washing basins, supply of essential items including soap and sanitizer, spraying of disinfectants and protection against Covid-19.
Representatives of various international organizations joined the online conference and praised Bangladesh's initiative and capability in this regard. They said they would soon submit their financial proposals for cooperation with Bangladesh. They also said that it is important to pay attention to those who live in remote areas and are not able to cope with the adverse conditions. Representatives of International organizations assured assistance in this emergency situation for humanitarian reasons.
Department of Public Health Engineering, UNICEF, BUET, ICDDRB and academics Dr.Mojibur Rahman have prepared the strategy paper. It has stated the implementation of short-term (June 2020), medium-term (July-December, 2020) and long-term (January 2021-December 2022) plans will require approximately 846 million US dollar.
Of this, the Bangladesh government will provide 296 million US dollars. About 550 million US dollar will be needed more. These issues were presented to the development partners.
The conference was joined by Helaluddin Ahmed, Senior Secretary, Local Government Division, Local Government Division Additional Secretary Zahirul Islam, Chief Engineer of DPHE Saifur Rahman, Country Director of WB Mercy Tembon, UNDP Adviser Henry Gloriex, UNICEF WASH program coordinator Dara Johnston, France Development Agency program coordinator Feni Nessen and ADB, IDB, AIB, SIDA, DFID, EU, KfW, USAID, JICA representatives of other development organizations.