This report, an output of WSUP’s Urban Sanitation Research Initiative, explores the background to the urban sanitation sector in Bangladesh.
Summary of findings:
- Bangladesh is a lower middle-income country with high ambitions, but poor infrastructure in urban areas is holding back economic growth.
- Onsite sanitation is the norm; transport and treatment services for sewage and faecal sludge are under-developed.
- The legal framework for sanitation is fragmented, but recent progress has been made in developing a draft regulatory framework for faecal sludge management (FSM).
- There is significant overlap in institutional responsibilities, contributing to the limited supply of FSM services.
- Funding has focused on rural sanitation, and sewerage services to urban areas.
- Rapid urbanisation, low decentralisation, lack of demand for and supply of FSM services and lack of investment are all major barriers to pro-poor urban sanitation.
- Despite challenges, the sector has an opportunity to bring about change.