Equitable and Sustainable WASH Services in Bangladesh Delta Plan Hotspots (2022-2026)

Published on: 27/06/2023

Sundarbans, Bangladesh. Photo credit: Flickr - IMF/K M Asad, 26 April 2021

Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. In this Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands sponsored project (2022-2026), IRC along with BRAC will work towards developing a sustainable model for WASH services in climate hotspots of Bangladesh. 

The project will work in 4 delta plan hotspots (coastal areas, drought-prone areas, floodplains and low-lying river basin areas) across 14 districts of Bangladesh. The project will address three key objectives:

1. Develop and implement a contextualised microcredit model for safely managed water and sanitation (basic minimum) services to adapt to extreme climate events in climate hotspots.
2. Strengthen water and sanitation supply chains and develop an entrepreneur-based operation and maintenance model for drinking water and sanitation services in climate hotspots engaging entrepreneurs (and technologies); working in similar context to introduce and market appropriate drinking water treatment technologies.
3. Support local government institutions to roll out the WASH pro-poor strategy and to strengthen the local subsidy mechanisms for those without access to safe water and sanitation (selected Union Parishads).

With these interventions, the project aims to reach 1 million people with safely managed water and sanitation (basic minimum) services.

As the knowledge and innovation partner, IRC works on the adaptation of water and sanitation service delivery models to climate hotspot areas. It will support BRAC in identification of suitable climate resilient products, from the different domestic (Bangladesh) sectors as well as the Dutch water sector. Further, IRC will build capacities of Local Government Institutes to fulfil their mandate to provide water and sanitation services to the citizens, especially those who cannot afford to pay for them.