Unsafe sanitation costs $4.2b annually

Staff Reporter :

An estimated 230 tonnes of faecal waste is being discharged into open water bodies in Dhaka daily, contributing to significant environmental pollution and posing serious health risks to marginalised communities, particularly children.
During the International Toilet Conference 2025 in the capital, UNICEF and WaterAid called for stronger sanitation management. Both organisations emphasised the need
to integrate the sanitation agenda into the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to safeguard children’s health.
More than 65 million people-over one-third of Bangladesh’s population-still lack access to safely managed sanitation, the organisations reported.
“Children have benefited from remarkable progress in eliminating open defecation in Bangladesh, a serious threat to their health and development, achieved at a faster pace than in most countries. However, last year, we witnessed how these advances for children can be undone by climate hazards, such as the historic floods in Feni, which destroyed infrastructure and left children exposed,” said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh.
“Children have the right to grow up in a healthy environment, yet the lack of proper sanitation prevents them from doing so safely. To ensure adequate sanitation for the most marginalised, including women and children, Bangladesh must continue working on private-sector partnerships, invest in the WASH sector, strengthen regulatory mechanisms for quality service and sustainability, while reducing contamination and reliance on groundwater,” she added.
Sanitation services in Bangladesh are particularly vulnerable due to the increasing impact of the climate crisis, including rising floods and extreme weather events. Some areas, such as Feni, experienced flooding last year despite having remained unaffected for more than half a century. These hazards threaten existing infrastructure and water resources, especially in vulnerable rural and coastal communities.
“The Toilet Conference 2025 represents a pivotal moment in the global sanitation movement, providing a platform to transform toilets from an overlooked necessity into a driver of dignity, health, and innovation,” said Hasin Jahan, Country Director of WaterAid Bangladesh.
“This conference is more than a discussion; it is a call to action to challenge outdated practices, embrace cutting-edge solutions, and recognise sanitation as fundamental to human rights, environmental sustainability, and economic growth,” she added.
“Every child needs a toilet to stay in school, every woman deserves safe sanitation for dignity, and every community must manage waste responsibly to protect our planet. Toilets are everyone’s business,” she stressed.
The economic cost of using unimproved sanitation facilities is estimated at USD 4.2 billion annually, equivalent to almost 1.5 per cent of the country’s GDP in 2018. However, achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) sanitation targets requires an eightfold acceleration in progress, according to trend analysis from the Joint Monitoring Programme 2022 by UNICEF and WHO.
UNICEF and WaterAid underscored the urgent need for increased investment and innovative solutions to tackle the sanitation crisis by incorporating sanitation into national climate strategies. This includes integrating the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) agenda within the NDCs to ensure climate financing supports the development of climate-resilient sanitation infrastructure.
The conference convened government representatives, policymakers, technical experts, donors, academics, civil society organisations, and WASH professionals to address the challenges and opportunities in achieving universal access to safe and sustainable sanitation.
The event was supported by the Gates Foundation, Kimberly-Clark, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and the UK International Development.