WaterAid holds a Roundtable on ‘South Asian Exchange on Public Sanitation’ to conclude the second phase of the South Asia Regional Public Toilet Exchange Visit programme on 20 July 2023 at Lakeshore Hotel, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The roundtable was attended by Mr Atiqul Islam, Hon’ble Mayor, Dhaka North City Corporation as the Chief Guest; Dr Md Khairul Islam, Regional Director, South Asia, WaterAid; Ms Hasin Jahan, Country Director, WaterAid Bangladesh; Prof V Srinivas Chary, Director, Centre for Urban Governance, Environment, Energy, and Infrastructure Development, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI); and many other visiting delegates from Nepal and India as well as government, non-government, civil society and private sector representatives from Bangladesh. Mr Shyamal Dutta, General Secretary, National Press Club, Bangladesh – moderated the dialogue.
An exhibition on recent innovations related to the sector was also organised during the event, which showcased O&M Models (Bangladesh), Social Enterprise (Bangladesh), Social Audit (India), Innovation Projects (India), and Bus Tour Awareness Campaign (Nepal). During the session, delegates and stakeholders provided insights on thematic elements of inclusion for the state of public toilets, operations and maintenance, public-private partnerships, innovation, and monitoring.
The South Asian Exchange on Public Sanitation is a collaborative effort between WaterAid South Asia Regional Office and the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI). It facilitated the inter-country visits to public toilets in Bangladesh, Nepal and India, that shall enable knowledge sharing and understanding of management modality among the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector representatives from the three countries.