An urge to prioritize water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) in the election manifestos in Bangladesh

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) sector actors in Bangladesh made an appeal to the political parties contesting at the 11th National Parliamentary Election to prioritize issues related to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) in their election manifestos to improve the lives and wellbeing of all citizens.

WaterAid, Unicef, Brac, World Vision, Water.org, FSM Network, FANSA, WSSCC,B, Sanitation and Water for All, and WASH Alliance jointly urged to all political parties to include the following points in their election manifestos.

Development partners are handing over the manifesto to Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Mr. HT Imam.

Development partners are handing over the manifesto to BNP Secretary-General Mr. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

The representatives from the development partners submitted a memorandum to the major political parties with a view to including the related issues in their upcoming election manifesto. But does it ensure that the demand will be addressed when they run the government if the points are in the manifesto? Like many political commitments before the election, are not these commitments most likely to be forgotten or overlooked?

Dr. Md. Khairul Islam, Country Representative of WaterAid in Bangladesh (the organization led the campaign) explained that the entire process ultimately sensitizes them and create some impact. And that is the ultimate process for sustainable development.

Dr. Md. Khairul Islam, Country Representative of WaterAid in Bangladesh talked about the urge to the political parties to include water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) issues in the election manifesto of the political parties in the 11th national parliamentary election in Bangladesh.

The points included in the memorandum to the political parties were:

• Taking action for integrated water resource management and scaling up sustainable technological options to ensure arsenic-and germ-free safe drinking water for all.
• Ensuring inclusive and accessible toilet facilities in public places and institutions, with sound fecal sludge management (FSM) systems in place for safe and sustainable sanitation.
• Exemption of all kinds of taxes and duties on sanitary napkins and associated raw materials to ensure menstrual health and hygiene for girls and women.
• Ensuring equity of WaSH investment in urban and rural areas along with an increase in WaSH financing to ensure inclusive services for all, especially those living in hard-to-reach rural areas as well as slums and low-income urban areas.

The memorandum (in Bangla) that the development organizations handed over to the political parties

The sector actors hope that the inclusion of these recommendations in election manifestos will play a vital role in bringing quality WASH services to all citizens and drive national progress through improvements in health, education and the economy.

As a part of the manifesto campaign, the alliance of the development partners runs a TV talk show, newspaper articles, radio show, public service announcement etc.

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