Water, sanitation and hygiene in Bangladeshi slums: an evaluation of the WaterAid– Bangladesh urban programme

Abstract

This paper describes the WaterAid-supported programme of water, sanitation and hygiene education implemented by local NGOs in the “slums” of Bangladesh’s two largest cities, Dhaka and Chittagong. This includes descriptions of the design and management of community-managed water points and sanitation blocks. The paper also summarizes the findings of an external evaluation of their effectiveness and discusses the difficulties of reaching the poorest while also getting full cost-recovery from users (which is required if the millions of urban dwellers in need of improved provision are to be reached with the limited funds available).