While there had been real progress made in WASH, contextual and emerging challenges in are still there.

The Water Crisis

Discover how lack of access to water stops people having an equal chance to be healthy, educated and financially secure.

Khushnahar (24) and her family suffer severely from the water crisis and every day they have to go 4-5 times down a rocky path to collect drinking water from the only small well in Barek Tila, Tahirpur-Sunamganj, Bangladesh. March 2021
Image: WaterAid/ Drik/ Tapash Paul

The Sanitation Crisis

Public, community, and institutional sanitation facilities and its many linkages should be sustainable and inclusive.

Seven months pregnant Rani (25) witnessed cyclone Amphan and spent a night in the cyclone center a few months ago during her preganancy. Dacope, Khulna, Bangladesh. November 2020
Image: WaterAid/ Fabeha Monir

The Hygiene Crisis

Good hygiene practices can protect and transform people’s lives. However, this isn't always the case.

Hanging latrines in Karail slum, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Image: WaterAid/ Abir Abdullah

In order to address these challenges, we adopt a core set of approaches aligned with WaterAid’s global principles to implement programmes that bring lasting change. Our strategies towards bringing change revolve around the principles of rights to WASH, engaging districts and local governments, integration and sustainability.

We sensitise duty bearers on their roles for greater accountability and responsiveness, and empower communities to claim their WASH rights.

We demonstrate model solutions, and enable wider replication through advocacy and capacity building to broaden coverage.

We integrate WASH into other areas of development and bring in elements from health, education, nutrition and other sectors into our work through partnerships.

We strive for the highest quality and durability in our interventions, and work to improve sector performance and accountability for more sustainable WASH services.

We centralise learning and innovation, both in technological and operational elements of our programmatic work, as well as through rigorous, multidisciplinary research.

BG30_062
Image: WaterAid/ DRIK/ Habibul Haque

million people

reached with water coverage

Children drink water from new water source, Hajipara, Fulbaria, Mymenshing. 1st August, 2012
Image: WaterAid/ DRIK/ Habibul Haque

million people

reached with sanitation coverage

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Image: WaterAid/ Habibul Haque

million people

reached with hygiene coverage

Ayesha washes her hands with soap from a handwashing facility at Dhumghat Lower Secondary Girls School, Isweripur Union. Bangladesh. December 2021
Image: WaterAid/ Drik/ Farzana Hossen

Behind these numbers lie countless stories of transformation in some of the country’s poorest communities.

Starting from a single donor and grant, our evolution to a vibrant, multi-project country programme has been driven by effective interventions with hyper-local and national-level impact.

As a key figure behind the pioneering community-led total sanitation (CLTS) approach, now practiced in 60 countries globally, we have a deep-rooted history of working with local partners and communities to galvanise progress at scale. Our focus on equity, inclusion and rights has led to context-specific projects in hard-to-reach areas, working with highly marginalised populations – including working with slum residents to ensure legal water supply connections in slums, or reaching the vulnerable tea picker community with access to safe water, improved sanitation and good hygiene.

Our emphasis on innovation and growth continues to generate new ideas and break new ground in the WASH sector, and projects including in faecal sludge management, co-composting, and public toilets are at the forefront of sectoral progress.

Image: WaterAid/ DRIK/ Habibul Haque