UNB, Dhaka :
Over 1.7 lakh low-income households in rural Bangladesh will have access to hygienic sanitation under the Output-Based Aid (OBA) Sanitation Microfinance Programme.
The World Bank, in partnership with the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), is supporting this programme with a $3 million grant from the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) in line with the government’s initiative to enable households to shift from basic to hygienic quality sanitation services, said a World Bank press release.
“Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in almost ending the practice of open defecation in rural areas, which is now down to 1 percent. This has helped reduce health risk, especially for children under five, and provided safety, dignity and security to women and adolescent girls. Improvements in quality of drinking water supply and environment are noticeable with improvements in sanitation”, said Rajashree Paralkar, Acting Country Director of World Bank in Bangladesh.
“The Sanitation Microfinance Program for rural communities will complement our ongoing work towards meeting the SDGs in improved sanitation, and help poor rural families gain access to affordable hygienic sanitation facilities,” he said.
The OBA grant supports access to hygienic sanitation by leveraging approximately $22 million in household loan finance from participating microfinance institutions (MFIs) for a total project cost of $25 million.
Participating MFIs include the Association for Social Advancement (ASA) as well as 20 additional partner organisations of PKSF. This combination of microfinance and output-based subsidies will make affordable loans available to low-income households for the purchase of quality hygienic latrines from local construction firms-thus reducing the total purchase price for families unable to pay the entire cost up front.
“GPOBA is proud to partner with these Bangladesh microfinance institutions in supporting a results-based approach for healthier, safer and affordable sanitation services to low-income rural households,” said Catherine Commander O’Farrell, Head of GPOBA.
Over 1.7 lakh low-income households in rural Bangladesh will have access to hygienic sanitation under the Output-Based Aid (OBA) Sanitation Microfinance Programme.
The World Bank, in partnership with the Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF), is supporting this programme with a $3 million grant from the Global Partnership on Output-Based Aid (GPOBA) in line with the government’s initiative to enable households to shift from basic to hygienic quality sanitation services, said a World Bank press release.
“Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in almost ending the practice of open defecation in rural areas, which is now down to 1 percent. This has helped reduce health risk, especially for children under five, and provided safety, dignity and security to women and adolescent girls. Improvements in quality of drinking water supply and environment are noticeable with improvements in sanitation”, said Rajashree Paralkar, Acting Country Director of World Bank in Bangladesh.
“The Sanitation Microfinance Program for rural communities will complement our ongoing work towards meeting the SDGs in improved sanitation, and help poor rural families gain access to affordable hygienic sanitation facilities,” he said.
The OBA grant supports access to hygienic sanitation by leveraging approximately $22 million in household loan finance from participating microfinance institutions (MFIs) for a total project cost of $25 million.
Participating MFIs include the Association for Social Advancement (ASA) as well as 20 additional partner organisations of PKSF. This combination of microfinance and output-based subsidies will make affordable loans available to low-income households for the purchase of quality hygienic latrines from local construction firms-thus reducing the total purchase price for families unable to pay the entire cost up front.
“GPOBA is proud to partner with these Bangladesh microfinance institutions in supporting a results-based approach for healthier, safer and affordable sanitation services to low-income rural households,” said Catherine Commander O’Farrell, Head of GPOBA.
