National dialogue on women in sanitation: Promoting gender-inclusive sanitation sector

NN News Desk:  WaterAid Bangladesh organised a national event highlighting women’s contribution in sanitation sector at Amari Dhaka, Gulshan. The event united leading voices from the sector to promote gender-inclusive sanitation services, foster collaboration, and address systemic challenges hindering women’s participation in decision-making to address the sanitation crisis in Bangladesh.
The event created a unique platform to connect women professionals from diverse backgrounds, allowing them to share their experiences, insights, and challenges. It aimed to highlight women’s contributions in addressing sanitation challenges while proposing actionable solutions to drive progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 6. By focusing on these pressing issues, the event leveraged toward inspiring systemic change and encouraging broader representation of women in decision-making roles within the sanitation sector.
At the beginning of the dialogue Ms Samia Rafa presented current standing of women in sanitation despite playing a crucial role in managing sanitation issues in their communities. The presentation highlighted that women remain underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions in the WASH sector. The event emphasised breaking these long-standing barriers and empowering women to take on leadership roles, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to inclusive and sustainable sanitation systems.
The event featured an engaging panel discussion moderated by Ms Tunazzina Hoque, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) Expert at WaterAid Bangladesh. The distinguished panellists included Ms Hasin Jahan, Country Director of WaterAid Bangladesh; Ms Farhana Rashid, Co-Founder and CEO of BHUMIJO; Ms Salma Mahbub, General Secretary of Bangladesh Society for the Change and Advocacy Nexus (B-SCAN); and Dr Rozina Afroz Rana, Technical Specialist at WaterAid Bangladesh.
During the discussion, Ms Hasin Jahan, Country Director of WaterAid Bangladesh expressed her delight at the increasing participation of women in such sanitation related dialogues. She also added, how women still lag behind due to their limited networking opportunities compared to men. She also pointed out, that the lack of women’s involvement in decision-making results in infrastructure that is not women-friendly, emphasizing the need for women’s voices to be heard. She also stressed that the sanitation system needs to be multifaceted and digitally advanced, with reproductive health and sexual education being integral to proper education.
Ms Salma Mahbub stressed the need to establish the rights of disabled women in sanitation sector, focusing on universal access guidelines. She added, in Bangladesh, progress has been made in this area through the inclusion of sanitation specific criteria in the guideline.
Ms Farhana Rashid addressed the importance of building women-friendly public toilets, inclusive of female perspectives. She also mentioned, to ensure women’s safety in public toilets, short-term measures include small infrastructural changes like ensuring secure windows and functional doors, female attendants are necessary.
Dr Rozina Afroz highlighted how women are subject to several health-related problems due to poor sanitation, including urinary infections, fungal and bacterial infections and some waterborne diseases like diarrhea and dysentery. She also stressed the importance of including women and sanitation related topics in community decisions.
The event concluded with a strong call for collaboration to build gender-inclusive sanitation systems. By connecting women leaders from various sectors, the dialogue sparked innovative ideas and future initiatives aimed at equipping women with the tools, mentorship, and support needed to excel leadership roles.
This initiative reflects WaterAid Bangladesh’s unwavering commitment to promoting equity and sustainability in sanitation systems by placing women at the centre of decision-making