NN: A large number of people of our country are still out of the coverage of quality sanitation: What is your recommendation to make these people understand the benefits of it?
Sara : I think using (social) marketing skills to create demand would help to increase the process. WASH Alliance partners with the technical assistance of the World Bank have helped the entrepreneurs to gain these skills in addition to building their technical capacity. The entrepreneurs can then use their social marketing skills to promote use of improved sanitation within their communities, and at the same time by creating demand promoting their businesses. It is basically using the same principle which is used to promote mobile phone throughout Bangladesh and you can find mobile phone wherever you go.
NN: 60 million people are still out of safe sanitation and safe water coverage : Do you believe your proposed initiative to provide education, training and social marketing would be able to bring them to the standard level?
Sara : I believe that if the right social marketing and demand creation would be used the coverage of improved household sanitation will be used. However, even when people invest in building their latrines, they need some other awareness raising to actually use the latrine. Therefore we use other techniques such as court yard discussions and community based monitoring to ensure that use of household latrines will be increased and that the people keep their latrine and its surrounding clean. It is also important for people to have access to water close by their latrines for them to do this. So it is important for the service providers or relevant government authorities (i.e. DPHE or LGIs) to ensure availability of the water services everywhere.
On the other hand, the story of improved sanitation according to SDGs does not finish with having household latrines. Improved sanitation implies that there is a pit or septic tank attached to the latrine, which can be emptied. It cannot be expected that families have to build another latrine if their pit or septic tanks gets full. If there is no services for the pits to empty the pits then the situation go back to the 1st place! Therefore, it is important for everyone to have access to affordable and reliable emptying services. Therefore, in addition to the education and training you need clear policies, rules and regulations and ensuring their reinforcement for SDG 6 to be achieved.
NN : As a nominal number of entrepreneurs are trained abour their business: how the other would come under your proposed training programme and help achieve SDGs?
Sara : As WASH Alliance, we believe it is our role to facilitate the relevant processes to achieve SDGs. I believe by piloting the training of the Sanitation and hygiene products entrepreneurs, and providing loans to them, we have shown that WASH can be seen as a social business. Now as you see there are banks and micro finance institutes that are taking up this approach through their institutionalized loan products. For instance you heard that World Bank and ASA are investing in it. This is how at WASH Alliance we believe that acceleration in achieving sustainable goals can be achieved.
NN : We know that if loans are distributed without co-lateral, then receiving the money back becomes tough: What your experience says to overcome this risk factor?
Sara : I am not a financial expert, but I understand that finance institutes need some sort of guarantee for giving loans. I believe if the request for guarantee is done on a reasonable way, which does not create a high obstacle for the entrepreneurs to access the loans it should not be a problem. I believe Bangladesh has enough experience with micro-credits and micro-finance to overcome this. If it is about the large co-laterals then World Bank can be approached to provide this co-lateral. However, again to me, if they are convinced that water and sanitation service provision and production/distribution of hygiene products such as sanitary napkin is a social business then there would not be problem.
NN : Almost all the entrepreneurs lack formal education : How the country be able to overcome this problem?
Sara : Again I am not an Education expert. I think to be a successful entrepreneur you need some basic education (being able to read, write, count) and if this is combined with the vocational and on the job training then the entrepreneurs can take up this responsibility. I do hope that the expert also think about improving the formal education in the country.
NN : If everything goes accordingly, then as per your experience, how long and how much fund it may require to bring the situation to the standard level?
Sara : It is difficult to say this. Unfortunately we are not that much use to Sustainable interventions and there is high focus on “Infrastructures”. Unless and until we can shift our focus to “Services” which are “Sustainable” the standard level will not be achieved no matter how much and how long we invest in it. For instance take the example of installation of “deep tube wells (DTW)” and “Pond Sand Filters (PSF)”, which was the bases of achieving targets for MDGs. We all know that no DTW or PSF will work for ever. If we don’t plan/budget well for O&M and even replacement of the system when it is needed, we would never get sustainable results. So we need to realize that for Services that last, there is a continuous resource allocation for monitoring to ensure quality as well as Operation and Maintenance costs when needed. The costs of services need to be calculated in advance and it should be clear who is responsible to cover which part of it. For instance, the users can (and for sustainability to be achieved have to) pay affordable fees for services. Tax and other revenues can be considered for other part of covering costs. Cost-benefit analysis and comparison between different technical options, taking into account their effects on environment, can be used to choose the optimum solution. Only in this way the Sustainable Goals can be achieved.
NN : How people of costal area and other remote areas can be brought under SDG 6: what is your recommendation?
Sara : The people of coastal area and other remote areas, are targeted under SDGs, since these goals are meant to be “For All”. The main concern is that they would not be “Left Behind”. The specific situation of these areas, i.e. being prone to disasters, salinity, and arsenic contamination and so on, requires that extra measures will be taken up in these areas. The entrepreneurs then need to be trained on how to use technologies which suit specific situation of these areas. For instance, WASH Alliance promotes using elevated pit latrines in these areas to prevent that the pit will be filled during flooding. Besides these technical considerations, the same principle of focusing on services and not infra structures applies here as well.
NN : The government has taken a set of initiatives and also achieved some progres; do you think the government is on the right track to achieve SDGs within the stipulated time?
Sara : I am really amazed by the measures that the Bangladeshi government, under direct guidance of prime minister, is taking to achieve SDGs. I am looking forwards to see the task force recommendations and further on how it will be implemented at local levels. I was thrilled to hear today from the state minister of finance and planning the determination of the Bangladeshi government to achieve these goals and I am sure where there is a will there will be a way. My healthful wish for the people of Bangladesh would be that these goals would be met.
NN : Do you have any specific recommendation on the issue?
Sara : I think I have mentioned my recommendations in the previous questions, in particular with regard to focusing on having sustainable services which last for everyone everywhere. I do hope that we all understand that everyone contribution is needed for achievement of these goals: communities, government, service providers, businesses, finance institutes, Civil Society, knowledge institutes, everyone. I also hope that we all realize that achieving SDGs are about changing the lives of people for better and not counting the percentages nor ticking off the boxes. I therefore we all can work together to have a prosperity for everyone in Bangladesh and hopefully around the world.
