BRAC WASH Programme II Ensuring sustainable access to sanitation, water and hygiene in hard‐to‐reach areas and for underserved people in Bangladesh October 2011‐ April 2015 i
Table of contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................VI 1. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................1 1.1. SOCIO‐ECONOMIC CONTEXT ................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2. WATER AND SANITATION CONTEXT ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.3. BANGLADESH SECTOR POLICIES ............................................................................................................................. 5 1.4. REVIEW OF THE BRAC WASH‐ I .......................................................................................................................... 8 1.4.1. BRAC’s involvement in the Bangladesh WASH Sector........................................................................ 17 1.4.2. Lessons Learned ................................................................................................................................. 18 2. GOAL AND OBJECTIVES OF WASH II ........................................................................................................... 23 3. JUSTIFICATION, TARGET AUDIENCES AND TARGET AREAS .......................................................................... 25 4. OVERALL PROGRAMME CONCEPTS............................................................................................................ 27 4.1. 4.2. 4.3. 4.4. 4.5. 5. CHANGING SOCIAL NORMS AND TRADITIONAL PRACTICE .......................................................................................... 28 SANITATION.................................................................................................................................................... 29 WATER .......................................................................................................................................................... 32 WASH IN SCHOOL (SCHOOL SANITATION AND HYGIENE EDUCATION) ....................................................................... 33 BUILDING CAPACITY ......................................................................................................................................... 35 PROGRAMME STRATEGIES ........................................................................................................................ 36 5.1. WORKING IN NEW AREAS .................................................................................................................................. 36 5.1.1. Cost Recovery, subsidies, cross‐subsidies, revolving funds ................................................................ 36 5.1.2. Reaching the poor.............................................................................................................................. 37 5.1.3. Ensuring the conditions for behavioural change................................................................................ 39 5.2. SUSTAINABILITY ............................................................................................................................................... 42 5.2.1. Aspects of sustainability .................................................................................................................... 42 5.2.2. Phasing out ........................................................................................................................................ 44 5.3. CAPACITY AND EMPOWERMENT .......................................................................................................................... 44 5.3.1. Capacity and collaboration with local institutions ............................................................................ 44 5.3.2. Collaboration with the Government and private sector .................................................................... 45 5.3.3. Private sector ..................................................................................................................................... 46 5.3.4. Gender sensitivity............................................................................................................................... 47 5.4. INNOVATION COMPONENT ................................................................................................................................ 49 6. OUTPUTS AND ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................................................... 52 7. COLLABORATION....................................................................................................................................... 56 7.1. 7.2. BOTTOM‐UP MANAGEMENT: LOCAL PLANNING ...................................................................................................... 57 COLLABORATION WITHIN BRAC ......................................................................................................................... 57 ii
7.3. 8. COLLABORATION WITH IRC AND PARTNERS ........................................................................................................... 58 PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................... 62 8.1. 8.2. 9. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ............................................................................................................................... 62 STRUCTURE AT THE UPAZILA AND UNION LEVEL ..................................................................................................... 63 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND REPORTING ............................................................................................. 64 9.1. 9.2. 9.3. 9.4. 9.5. 9.6. 9.7. 9.8. 9.9. 9.10. 9.11. 9.12. ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL REPORTING ............................................................................................................ 64 INTERNAL AUDITS ............................................................................................................................................ 65 PROCUREMENT ............................................................................................................................................... 66 ASSET AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT ................................................................................................................ 66 INVENTORY AND INTERNAL FINANCIAL CONTROL MONITORING ................................................................................ 67 HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT ..................................................................................................................... 67 BRAC OMBUDSPERSON ................................................................................................................................... 67 EXTERNAL AUDITS............................................................................................................................................ 68 INTERNAL QUALITY CONTROL ............................................................................................................................. 68 WASH MONITORING AND QUALITY CONTROL UNIT .............................................................................................. 68 MONITORING DEPARTMENT .............................................................................................................................. 69 GOVERNANCE AND TRANSPARENCY ..................................................................................................................... 69 10. REVIEW AND EVALUATION.................................................................................................................... 70 11. PARTNERSHIP WITH IRC INTERNATIONAL WATER AND SANITATION CENTRE ......................................... 72 12. ASSUMPTIONS AND RISKS..................................................................................................................... 74 ANNEX 1: LOGICAL FRAMEWORK ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................... 80 ANNEX 2 PERFORMANCE REPORT OF BRAC WASH PROGRAMME I ................................................................ 101 ANNEX 3 WASH ORGANOGRAM .................................................................................................................. 103 ANNEX 4 MAPS.............................................................................................................................................. 104 iii
Abbreviations ADP BBS BDP BRAC BWDB CBO CSO DANIDA DMW/DGIS DPHE DTW GoB IEC IRC JMP LGD LGED LGI MDG MoLGRDC MOU NGO NPWSS NWMP O&M PPCP PRA PRSP PSF RED RNE SACOSAN SK SS UNO UNICEF Union Upazila VWC WASH BRAC WASH II WHO Annual Development Programme Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics BRAC Development Programme Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (formerly known as) Bangladesh Water Development Board Community‐based Organization Civil society organization Danish International Development Agency Directoraat Mileu and Water/Directoraat Generaal Internationale Samenwerking Department of Public Health Engineering Deep tube well Government of Bangladesh Information education and communication IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre Joint Monitoring Project Local Government Division Local Government Engineering Department Local Government Institution Millennium Development Goal Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Memorandum of Understanding Non‐government organization National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation National Water Management Plan Operation and Management Public Private and Community Partnership Participatory Rural Appraisal Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Pond Sand Filter Research and Evaluation Division, BRAC Royal Netherlands Embassy South Asian Conference on Sanitation Shasthya Kormi (health worker) Shasthya Shebika (health volunteer) Upazila Nirbahi Officer United Nations Children’s Fund with an average population of 25,000 people, 10 unions form one Upazila Sub‐district with an average population of 250,000 people Village WASH Committee Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Phase 2 of the BRAC water, sanitation and hygiene programme World Health Organization iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In May 2006, BRAC with support from the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, launched the WASH project in 150 Upazilas (sub‐districts) of Bangladesh having a total population of about 38.8 million. The project aimed to improve the health situation of the rural poor and enhance equitable development through: (1) provision of sustainable and integrated WASH services in the rural areas of Bangladesh; (2) inducing hygienic behaviours to break the contamination cycle of unsanitary latrines, contaminated water, and unsafe hygiene practices; and (3) ensuring sustainability and scaling‐up of WASH services. Beginning with a six month start‐up period and pilot work, WASH I developed and implemented a strategy that combines mass mobilization, bottom‐up planning in close collaboration with the government at the Union and Upazila levels. The programme has been dedicated to integrating its three main components (sanitation, hygiene and water) while reaching the poor and hard‐core poor and ensuring the participation of women at all levels. With its predominant emphasis on sanitation and hygiene, by the end of the project, in April 2011, 25.6 million people had improved, hygienic latrines; while hygiene promotion was targeted to the entire population in the area (38.8 million). A population of 1.78 million had access to new or improved water facilities. Some achievements of the WASH I project (2006‐2011) Sanitation Total coverage by BRAC WASH through loan, subsidy and mobilization (1 to 4 below) 1.
2.
3.
4.
Target (millions) Water Total Water coverage (1 and 2 below) 1. Total water coverage by WASH through new connections 2. Total coverage by repairing existing tube wells Achieved by April 2011 17.6 25.6 4.24 Construction of hygienic latrines under BRAC WASH programme meeting EKN MDG definitions (new latrine subsidized for hard‐core poor and families and families with loan support) Convert Hygienic Larine by changing and fixing water seal Support from other organizations (not through DGIS contribution) Construction of self‐financed latrine by social mobilization and hygiene promotion Hygiene Education Population (millions)
9.4 5.03 6.93 37.5 38.8 8.5 1.78 1 0.59 7.5 1.19 In part thanks to the BRAC programme, Bangladesh has made substantial progress in the sanitation, hygiene and water sector. According to the most recent data of the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Program, national latrine coverage stood at 52% with 24% shared latrines, while the proportion of the population with access to safe water was about 78%. Nonetheless, challenges remain. While v
coverage data is high, the use of facilities and behavioural change has not been uniform: maintenance and cleanliness of facilities remain great challenges. For example, one recent research study showed that only half of the latrines remain clean and have maintained their safe technology1. Another challenge is that progress has been uneven. The populations in hard‐to‐reach and underserved areas usually at the border and coastal areas of the nation have often not benefited from WASH programming efforts. A third challenge remains arsenic intrusion in the water supply and the consistent use of safe water sources by all people. Thus, the goal of extending the BRAC WASH programme to a second and final phase is to address these challenges: To contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by providing integrated water services, sanitation and hygiene promotion expanding to hard‐to‐reach areas and to under‐served populations in collaboration with government and other stakeholders while continuing reinforcing gains made in the original WASH I areas. WASH II will operate in 20 new Upazilas with major focus on hard‐to‐reach and underserved areas. These are characterized as wetlands, areas with high water tables, coastal areas with saline intrusion in the water supply, hilly areas and areas suffering from civil strife. These are exceptionally challenging and, by implication, expensive areas in which to work. However, WASH II will ensure improved access to and use of sanitary toilets for 2.0 million people, hygiene promotion with 4.2 million people and improved water services and their use for 0.5 million people in these Upazilas. This implies a per capita expenditure, over the life of the programme of less than seven euros per person in the 20 target Upazilas. For the 150 original Upazilas from WASH I, the WASH II programme will continue to work to ensure that the gains made in the first phase are sustained. Behavioural change takes time and therefore this follow‐up is considered to be crucial. In addition, the sanitation coverage will increase from about 83% to 90%. Activities will be undertaken to sustain and ensure continued use of sanitation facilities and water services built in WASH 1 (2006‐2011) and hygiene promotion in communities and schools will continue. The five year WASH II programme has four main objectives: Objective 1: New programme‐‐To provide integrated and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services to underserved populations and in hard to reach areas. Objective 2: Sustainability ‐‐ In the 150 Upazilas of the WASH I phase, to continue activities to ensure sustainability and expand toilet coverage and use to 90% of the population. Objective 3: Capacity and empowerment‐‐ To build capacity of the communities and network with local Government and other stakeholders for the implementation and sustained operation and use of installed facilities. 1
Hanchett, Suzanne, Mohidul Hoque Khan, Laurie Krieger and Craig Kullmann (October 2010) Sustainability of Sanitation in Rural Bangladesh. Manoff Group and WSP World Bank Water and Sanitation Program. www.planningalternatives.com/.../sitebuilderfiles/UNC_CONF_PAPER‐REV
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Objective 4: Innovation‐‐ To contribute to the WASH sector, and the Bangladesh WASH sector in particular, by carrying out action‐research on long outstanding issues such as low‐cost sanitation technologies for areas with high ground water tables, safe and final disposal of human waste, and so on. Its overall strategy focuses on participation and collaboration at the union and the village level where hygiene practices will be strongly integrated with improved sanitation and safe water supplies. The micro‐strategy is to stimulate bottom‐up participation and planning through purpose‐organized WASH committees at the village level whose members represent the entire village (and particularly the poor and women), including other committees and other agencies or NGOs that may be active in the village. The strategy also focuses on close collaboration with the local government in the Upazila and Union. This phase, WASH II, will continue to be carried out by BRAC. BRAC is currently present in 519 sub‐
districts of all 64 districts of Bangladesh, with over 8.05 million microfinance group members, 43,435 non‐formal pre‐primary and primary schools and more than 80,000 health volunteers. Its central mandate has been to find practical and scalable approaches to eradicate poverty wherever it is. For the implementation of the WASH programme, the project will strengthen links and collaborate with other BRAC programmes, specifically, with the following departments within BRAC: • Health Programme (local health groups and volunteers) • BRAC Economic Development Programme (savings‐and‐credit groups) • BRAC Education Programme (teachers and students) • BRAC Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC • BRAC Internal Audit Department • BRAC Training Division This proposal, for BRAC WASH II from 2011 to 2015, has the following main components: 1. Working in new areas: Integrated sanitation, hygiene and water in hard to reach, underserved areas 2. Ensuring sustainability: Continued work, to help ensure sustainability and increase coverage in 150 Upazilas of WASH I and also in the WASH II areas 3. Capacity and empowerment: Building capacity, networking and collaboration with governmental, private, non‐governmental sector to carry out and sustain the programme 4. Innovation: A research, dissemination and learning programme to support this programme Cross‐cutting these components are the key thrusts of the programme including issues that have proven to be most intractable within the water and sanitation sector: 1. New Upazilas o Cost Recovery, subsidies, cross‐subsidies, revolving funds o Reaching the poor o Behavioural change, mobilization and advocacy o Gender sensitivity 2. Ensuring sustainability o Sustainability of facilities, their sustained use and hygiene practices vii
o Phasing out 3. Capacity and empowerment o Collaboration with the Government o Collaboration with and empowerment of the private sector o Institution building o Monitoring and evaluation 4. Innovation component o Technology challenges o Learning for the WASH sector Each of these components is described briefly below. 1. New Upazilas in WASH II Twenty upazilas have been selected with hard‐to‐reach geographic areas where the programme focuses on the entire population, and particularly the poor and hard‐core poor. Cost Recovery, subsidies, cross‐subsidies, revolving funds Sanitation for the hardcore poor: In line with the national sanitation strategy 2005, the WASH programme will allocate financial support for hardcore poor families to install and upgrade latrines. Part of the financial input will be mobilized from the allocation to sanitation in the Annual Development Plans that are formulated at Upazila level. The remaining part of the financial support will be provided by BRAC, in the form of materials, rather than cash. Water Points: In line with the National Policy for Safe Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation (1998), user groups will be asked to make an up‐front contribution of 10% to 20% of the total investment costs for safe and improved water services. To ensure inclusion criteria, BRAC WASH has worked to reduce costs and has taken 5% to 7% contribution in case of piped water supply scheme. The strategy will be followed in WASH II as required to cover geographically excluded populations. Revolving Funds at the Upazila Level: BRAC‐WASH will follow the existing procedures for providing loans. Within the new programme areas, two types of revolving funds will be created initially: • A revolving fund to support micro‐enterprises to establish Rural Sanitation Centres that produce slabs and rings needed for the construction of slab latrines interest‐free loans of Taka 15,000 (€ 150.00). • A revolving fund to support poor families to installation of slab latrines, construct deep set tube wells and shallow tube well platforms for a loan of Tk. 2,500 (approximately € 25.00). For areas where pit latrines and tube wells are not relevant, loans will be provided for alternative technologies. Reaching the poor viii
BRAC WASH has used participatory and consultative processes as well as financial support to reach and empower the poorest of the poor in the community. It will continue and improve on its previous efforts to reach out the poor and the very poorest with selection and financial strategies. Behavioural change, mobilization and advocacy The BRAC WASH II programme will focus on breaking the contamination cycle by inducing behavioural change for all individuals, households and the entire community. These practices include: sustained use and maintenance of latrines, hand washing at critical times, continued use and maintenance of safe water points. The behavioural change and advocacy sanitation strategy will motivate as well as create peer pressure for construction and continued use of facilities with supporting hygienic behaviours. The hygiene strategy of the previous phase will be refined to ensure focus on changing practices, not only knowledge of these practices. In depth monitoring and research on progress toward behavioural change will be undertaken. Some of the channels that will be used for mobilization and advocacy are: (a) advocacy workshops for formal and non‐formal leaders, public‐private functionaries, health volunteers, and other stakeholders will participate in these workshops; (b) involvement of social institutions such as primary and secondary schools and youth clubs/CBOs; (c) involvement of religious institutions; (d) folk media/popular theatre; and, (e) development of communication materials. Compatible with the community‐led total sanitation efforts in Bangladesh, to further motivate volunteers and community members to perform their best to mobilize the community for sanitation and hygiene, individuals and institutions that perform exceptionally well in advancing the goals of the programme may be presented with small incentives and awards. Gender sensitivity BRAC believes that poverty cannot be eradicated without the reconstruction of gender roles in the society. To increase and improve women’s access to information, BRAC will continue to provide hygiene education to at least one woman in each household. However, hygiene and sanitation to be effective and gender‐sensitive must also target men. Thus BRAC will provide hygiene promotion/education in different ways, channels and messages appropriate to men for approximately one man from each household, beginning with a set of trials. To empower women in planning, decision making and implementation of the programme, women will continue to be involved and hold key positions in the Village WASH Committee. Women’s forums or discussion meetings will also be organized to create an opportunity to sit together with local government where they can bring up WASH related issues. 2. Ensuring sustainability of WASH I Sustainability of facilities, their sustained use and hygiene practices Sustainability is a central feature of the programme. It is a multi‐faceted construct referring to the continuation of the infrastructure, its use and the benefits generated from this. Technical sustainability will be addressed through training, monitoring and the creation of an O&M fund at the community level for repair and maintenance. In both WASH I and WASH II Upazilas, particular attention will be paid to operation, maintenance and use of sanitation and water facilities, an effort in which O&M is closely linked to hygiene promotion and roles of local institutions. The hygiene strategy will be refined; community monitoring strategies will be implemented; and, there will be re‐
enforcement activities will continue in the 150 Upazilas of WASH I. Another element to ensure a ix
sustained effort to improve practices is the embedding of hygiene promotion activities in other BRAC programmes such as those for health, education and adolescents. Organizational sustainability will be addressed as BRAC will continue to play supporting role in the national coordination committees and Upazila WASH committees. Phasing out In the WASH I Upazilas, the programme will gradually phase out during 2014. As mentioned earlier, BRAC Divisions having other programmes in these Upazilas will also continue, at a lower level, to reinforce the sanitation and hygiene practices initiated by the WASH project and the work of local groups, including the WASH committees. Activities in WASH II Upazilas will begin to wind down in the last year of the project. The revolving funds from WASH I will be accounted to the Netherlands’ Embassy and will be used during WASH II. The bridging from WASH I to WASH II, which is expected to be officially launched in July/August 2011, will be financed from WASH I savings and has been approved by EKN already. Within WASH II there will also be a revolving fund. Disbursement from this will end 12 months before the end of the project. In discussion with the Netherlands’ Embassy, alternatives for the final deployment of the funds will be decided. 3. Capacity building, networking and collaboration Collaboration with the Government and private sector The project succeeds best where the Upazila and Union officials and local authorities for engineering, education, and health are actively involved and have a strong sense of ownership of the entire WASH effort. In WASH I, the project learned the importance of focusing on a strong and mutual relationship, based on respect and understanding, good governance and accountability. WASH II will begin with promotion of the project strategy among local officials emphasizing the value of software support and motivational activities and re‐invigorating WASH committees in Upazilas and Unions. A greater sense of ownership will also created when local government provides its own funding for water and sanitation activities through Annual Development Programme grants. At the national level, BRAC WASH will continue to collaborate with institutions working in water and sanitation sector. The programme will also continue to contribute to sectoral discussions and the ongoing reform process in the WASH sector through institutions such as the sector Local Consultative Group (LCG). Private sector Private sector participation is essential for the development of the programme and it takes several forms. Thus, in line with the Netherlands development policy, the project provides loans and training for local private sanitation entrepreneurs, stimulates collaboration with local masons and those involved in construction as well as increasing sale of soap and stimulating the production of menstrual products. Through the loan and training facility more than 300 micro‐enterprises will be empowered to provide WASH services. x
Institution building at the local level: Village WASH Committees WASH committees will be established in all villages in the programme area. The committees are meant be platforms for the poor to participate in programme activities and thereby ensure that they benefit from it. The WASH committees, with on the average 11 members – 6 men and 5 women‐‐ will play a central role in hygiene education, identification of the poor and hardcore poor, the planning of improved safe water supply, and so on. The members of the VWCs will receive training to prepare them for the roles in the committee. Providing an organic link to the overall Netherlands supported programme in Bangladesh, the involvement of the water management organizations (WMO) is something that will be explored especially forming a cohesive group with VWCs in WASH working areas. Local Capacity Building Capacity building of key‐stakeholders—governmental, non‐governmental, and community—at all levels is a pre‐requisite for long‐term sustainability and scaling up of successful models. The BRAC Training Division will be responsible for training within the programme. There will be a series of tailor‐made training projects and learning‐by‐doing for BRAC field staff, local government representatives, members of village water committees, local leaders such as school teachers and imams. Successful trainees will also be recruited to train others as has been done effectively, for example, within the Religious training programme. Monitoring and evaluation Monitoring, evaluation and documentation are integral part of the learning effort in this programme. Two types of monitoring are envisaged. The first is internal through the independent BRAC health and monitoring departments and also through organizing community monitoring activities with groups and individuals in the villages and unions. The second is external monitoring and evaluation, which will include: review and support missions, a mid‐term and final evaluation, focused research studies such as on hand washing. The digitization of project monitoring data will also improve the quality and specificity of the monitoring information. 4. Innovation component Technology challenges More varied technical options and varied designs (with and without water seals) will be tested and made available for sanitation and possibly water services in hard‐to‐reach areas where current technologies are not effective. Thus, the number of technologies especially for hard‐to reach areas will be expanded. These will be tested at the beginning of WASH II through in‐depth research and assessment studies on sanitation technologies and design in difficult geo‐physical and climatic circumstances. Learning for the WASH sector In WASH II, the project will enhance its efforts to disseminate information about its work, achievements and challenges. This will include processes of information sharing with a view to dissemination in Bangladesh, the Netherlands as well as the European Community. xi
Targeted external inputs will also be provided to ensure the quality of the project and to make use of state‐of‐the‐art findings and processes. Short expert training workshops and learning/dissemination workshops will be held with other organizations in Bangladesh to stimulate open information exchange which is sometimes difficult in the NGO sector. Two guided study tours for BRAC staff will be organized, as well as continuing international support and training missions throughout the life of the project. Action research/trials and comparisons of approaches will be undertaken on a number of topics, for example: participatory assessment, final disposal of human waste, gender in hygiene promotion, efficiency of behavioural change programmes, efficiency/effectiveness of hygiene promotion, and management of infant faeces. Phasing The phasing of the programme is based on the micro‐cycles that have been designed for an integrated implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene activities in a typical village. Adaptations and further refining of this micro cycle will be done during the programme period. The programme will start with a reinforcement phase in the WASH I 150 Upazilas. Research will be tendered and undertaken on critical issues such as sanitation technologies. Activities will begin in the more difficult areas of 20 Upazilas with detailed planning based on the approved budget and the findings of research. Financial contributions and budget The total programme budget is € 31.76 million. The contribution requested as the DGIS contribution is €25 million. Other contributions come from the revolving fund of WASH I (€ 2.5 million), the BRAC contribution (€ 4 million, mostly through involvement from staff from other departments) and from the local communities (€ 0.2 million, as their own contribution to the new water services). Another € 60,000 will be provided by Water Mondial. xii
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1... Introduction The Government of the Netherlands is committed to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, which seek to reduce poverty around the world. For the water and sanitation sector, this commitment has a tangible focus; specifically, the Government of the Netherlands is extending access of 50 million poor people both to safe, reliable and sustainable sanitation and drinking water. It is not surprising that particularly the sanitation part of this commitment is being realized within Bangladesh. It was in this context that BRAC undertook the WASH project which, in the period 2006 to 2011, has extended hygienic latrine coverage to 25.6 million people, hygiene promotion focusing on 38 million people and improved safe water coverage for one million people within 150 Upazilas (total Upazilas is 500). For the second phase, WASH II, a consultation process began when BRAC approached the Government of the Netherlands with a proposal to undertake a second phase of the project from May 2011 to April 2015. A draft proposal was prepared by BRAC and, after an initial round of discussions, a more elaborate final programme document was prepared by both BRAC and, on request of BRAC, the IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC, The Netherlands). The proposed WASH II programme will consist of three major initiatives. The first initiative within the BRAC WASH II programme is to reach out to new areas, focusing on those that are hard‐to‐reach and underserved Upazilas. It will reach, in these new programme areas 4.2 million people, ensuring that 2.0 million people ‐ spread over 20 Upazilas ‐ have access to sanitation services that are effectively used, including consistent hygiene practices. In addition to this, more than 0.5 million people will gain access to safe water supply through new water supply facilities and through the repair of existing water supply. The second major initiative within the BRAC WASH II programme will work to ensure that existing water supplies are well maintained and managed by the community in the 150 Upazilas that were covered in the BRAC WASH I programme. This will be done through the continuation of promotion activities working toward consistent hygiene practices and the use and maintenance of existing sanitation and safe water facilities, continuing to reach out to 38 million people. In the WASH I areas, the coverage with sanitary facilities will increase from the currently achieved level of 83% to 90% within four years, implying that another 3.0 million people will be served. Activities will be undertaken to ensure sustained and continued use of sanitation facilities and water services built in WASH 1 (2006‐2011); and, hygiene promotion in communities and schools will continue. In line with BRAC’s commitment to the poor, the programme focuses on providing sustained and well‐used services to the poor and hardcore poor, and among these, to women in particular. The proposed programme builds on the existing framework of BRAC’s development programmes which are being implemented in 65,000 out of 85,000 villages in Bangladesh. Integration of the proposed programme into BRAC will further transform it into an on‐going programme with synergies within the larger BRAC framework. With BRAC, the programme’s cost‐effectiveness and efficiency can be better ensured as the project continues to draw on BRAC’s well‐established capacity to deliver training, organize revolving loans and to deliver efficient programme management at large scale. In 1
addition, BRAC’s long‐term and nationwide commitment provides opportunities for government agencies to draw on and benefit from its programmatic strategy. Another major programme component is a learning and innovation component to support the programme and the sanitation, hygiene, and water sectors in general. This component will consist of activities such community‐based monitoring, support to research activities, capacity development, action research on issues such as sanitation technologies for areas with high water tables or areas that are flood prone, safe and final disposal of human waste, piloting of collaboration with other local institutions such as Water Management Organizations (WMOs) and possibly low‐cost water treatment technologies. Once these new technologies have proven their effectiveness these will become available to the public through the local (selected and trained) entrepreneurs. Cross‐cutting these programme components are seven key issues or objectives that have proven to be most intractable within the water and sanitation sector: • hygiene and behavioural change • use and sustainability of sanitation facilities including safe and final disposal of human waste • drinking water supply • scaling up in the broadest sense that is in terms of time (sustainability), inclusiveness (reaching the poor and ultra poor), and numbers (reaching everybody) • reaching underserved and hard‐to‐reach areas • gender sensitivity • technology (technology choice: low‐cost sanitation technology for high water table areas; relevant technologies to address water quality problems), and, overall, WASH II will also work to devise an effective exit strategy within the context of the Government’s continuing efforts in the sector and BRAC’s ongoing core programme. 1.1. Socio­economic context With an estimated population of over 160 million, having limited resources and one of the highest population densities in the world, it has been hard for Bangladesh to make sure that all of its citizens have access to basic services. However, in terms of macro‐indicators, Bangladesh has done well over the past two decades. The average per capita income had risen to US$ 624 in 2009. According to UNICEF (2010) data, infant mortality has decreased from 103 in 1990 to 43 in 2008. Reflecting this, life expectancy at birth has increased from 54 years to 66 years over the same period. Around 70% of the young people between 15 and 24 years are now literate and this proportion is growing. Net primary school enrolment from 2003‐2008 was actually higher for girls (91%) than for boys (79%). About 80% of the children attended primary school (2003‐2008). The Gross National Product has continued to grow in the range of 5% to 7% each year, with a growth rate of 5.8% in FY2010, despite
the continued effects of the global recession. The proportion of the population living below the poverty decreased, according to the World Bank data, from 57% in 1990 to 40% in 20052.
2
World Bank country reports: Bangladesh http://data.worldbank.org/country/bangladesh 2
On the other hand, however, it is still the case that roughly 2 out of 5 Bangladeshis live below the poverty line while among children under five years, 2 out of 5 are moderately to severely underweight. The current food price increases, common to many developing countries, are also causing hardships for the poor in Bangladesh. For example, the price of coarse rice, the main food staple, increased almost 40% (to Taka 32.3/kg at the retail market in October 2010 from Taka 20.6/kg in October 2009)3. There are implications for the WASH II project in this because the current estimates of the proportion and number of poor might prove to have been underestimated when the project develops in new areas. Overall, half of Bangladesh's GDP is generated through the service sector though nearly two thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agricultural sector. This underlines the labour intensive and traditional character of the Bangladesh agricultural sector that mainly consists of marginal, subsistence farmers. There are substantial rural‐urban differences. For 2005, World Bank data indicates that the proportion of Bangladesh’s rural population living below the poverty line was 54% higher than the urban population living below the poverty line.4 1.2. Water and sanitation context Safe water and hygienic disposal of human waste can significantly reduce morbidity related to diarrhoeal disease, upper respiratory infections, blindness, skin disease and parasite infections. In Bangladesh as in other developing countries, people are constantly battling a range of these diseases, related to lack of clean drinking water and sanitation and unhygienic practices. Water Bangladesh is now experiencing an emerging water crisis. According to Bangladesh' Water Development Board (BWDB) more than 170 of Bangladesh's 230 large and medium rivers are suffering from pollution and poor water management. In a country where rainfall averages one to five meters a year, it is ironic that with falling water tables, increasing proportions of the population lack water in the dry season. This is a challenge which BRAC WASH II will encounter increasingly as it enters under‐served and hard‐to‐reach areas. The quality of water is an even greater challenge. To stop the consumption of contaminated surface water from rivers and ponds, shallow tube wells were massively implemented in Bangladesh beginning in 1973. In the 1980s/90s, in addition to government programmes, the private sector and NGOs were encouraged to install more shallow wells in rural Bangladesh for drinking and other domestic purposes. Subsequently, Bangladesh managed to provide 97% of its population with access to safe and free drinking water through these wells. This resulted in a drastic reduction in the deaths due to diarrhoeal diseases. However, the intrusion of arsenic contamination into shallow tube wells, caused by over‐pumping often for irrigation, turned this success into a disaster as oxygen entered the shallow aquifers releasing the arsenic. According to current estimates 35 to 77 million people in Bangladesh are 3
Bangladesh Quarterly Economic Update, Asian Development Bank, September 2010
4
43.5% of the rural population and 28.4% of the urban population were estimated to live below the poverty line in 2005. See
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.URHC and http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.RUHC
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chronically exposed to arsenic through drinking water5. It is generally estimated, based on a screening in 2002 and 2003 of a total of 4.7 million tubewells in Bangladesh, that almost one in five wells is providing arsenic‐contaminated water. There are more than 8,000 villages where 80 per cent of tube wells are contaminated. In addition, Bangladesh is facing other water quality problems such salinity in many coastal areas, high iron concentrations and, particularly in urban/town areas, industrial and faecal contamination of water source. Sanitation and hygiene In a nation with one of the world’s highest population densities, sanitation is a critical issue. The government has been a strong advocate of household sanitation, whose hallmark is the National Sanitation Strategy of 2005. The strategy focuses on hygienic sanitation coverage which is defined
as individual or shared by maximum two households of the following types:
•
•
•
•
Flushed and pour‐flushed toilet/latrines to piped sewer system or septic tank Pit latrines with slab and water seal or lid or flap Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines Composting latrines Thus, the Government considers a “hygienic” latrine to be one which confines faeces, has an intact water‐seal or other tight pit closure, and is shared by no more than two households. BRAC WASH adheres to this national definition. The most recent official government estimate of “hygienic” latrine coverage in rural areas is 88% (Government of Bangladesh, Sanitation Secretariat 2010). The Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) of UNICEF and the World Health Organization count “improved” latrines, which confine faeces but do not necessarily have tight pit closures. Furthermore, JMP counts only latrines used by single households, not shared ones, as “improved.” The most recent official JMP estimate of “improved” latrine coverage in rural Bangladesh is 52% as of 2008 (JMP 2010) compared to 28% in 1990. If in addition, shared latrines are included, estimated by JMP as 24% of the households, the total rural coverage would be 78%, lower than the national estimate. Challenges Having some sort of latrine is becoming a norm and the national achievement has been considerable, including the achievements of BRAC WASH I. There are three problems with this data, however. First, these high estimates of GoB are, in reality, somewhat lower. Thus, for example, a sample survey of 3000 households around the country done by Manoff Associates and WSP showed that 45% of the water seals in the survey areas had been broken, thus falling out of the national estimate6. As with water services, it has proved difficult to ensure the sustained use of latrines for latrines with filled pits and those that are damaged during heavy rains are often not replaced or repaired. The sustained hygienic and health quality of the facility is still a crucial challenge as is its consistent use. In reality, many latrines do not deserve that name. Sustainability, cleanliness and consistent use of facilities 5
Arqos, M., Kalra T. Et al. Arsenic exposure from drinking water, and all‐cause and chronic‐disease mortalities in Bangladesh (HEALS): a prospective cohort study 2010 Jul 24;376(9737):252‐8. Epub 2010 Jun 18.
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Hanchett, Suzamme, Mohidul Hoque Khan, Laurie Krieger and Craig Kullmann (October 2010) Sustainability of Sanitation in Rural Bangladesh. Manoff Group and WSP World Bank Water and Sanitation Program. www.planningalternatives.com/.../sitebuilderfiles/UNC_CONF_PAPER‐REV
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are continuing focal points of the BRAC WASH II programme within the area of the first phase of the programme. In addition to sustainability, a second challenge is un‐even coverage. There are a number of difficult areas of varying hydro‐geologic and socio‐economic conditions including high water table and flood prone areas, water scarce Barind area and eastern hill districts, low land and haor areas, and cyclone prone coastal areas where sanitation coverage is unsatisfactory. Adequate management capacity, technology and robust designs are needed for low‐cost latrines. This challenge—reaching the ‘hard‐
to‐reach’ areas—is the focus of the BRAC WASH II programme. A third challenge is that, in addition to practices such as cleaning and maintaining hygienic latrines and safe water points, health advantages are only fully realized if combined with sound personal hygiene. There is no reliable country‐wide data on hygiene practices such as hand washing with soap at critical times. However, personal hygiene is, of course, a key to improved health and deserves serious, continuing programmatic focus. BRAC WASH II will focus on improved personal and household hygiene practices. Thus the challenges are many relating to issues such as: reaching the poorest people, inconsistent hygiene practices, water quality, issues related to quantity (flooding, drought, and water management), improving sanitation technologies for the poor who live in high water table areas. The institutional setting is complex for addressing these issues. Capacity and management skills need to be improved, particularly at the intermediate level that links to the union and community. 1.3. Bangladesh sector policies The Government of Bangladesh has developed a range of policies to guide national development, among others, relating to women and to decentralization. Some of the policies specifically focus on sanitation and water is noted below. National Policy for Safe Water Supply & Sanitation (NWSS Policy), 1998 The National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation is the most comprehensive policy document governing the water supply and sanitation sector. The policy mentions that the Government’s goal is to ensure that all people have access to safe water and sanitation services at an affordable cost. The policy emphasizes elements of behavioural changes and sustainability through user participation in planning, implementation, management, and cost sharing. Ensuring the installation of one sanitary latrine in each household in the rural areas and improving public health standards through inculcating the habit of proper use of sanitary latrines are mentioned among the objectives. This is a combination of full subsidies and self financing. About urban sanitation, the policy objective is to ensure a sanitary latrine within easy access of every urban household through technology options ranging from pit latrines to water borne sewerage. Installing public latrines in schools, bus stations and important public places and community latrines in densely populated poor communities without sufficient space for individual household latrines are also emphasized. The government has budget provisions to install such facilities in public centres 5
such as bus terminals, rail stations, inland water ports, primary schools, government secondary schools, etc. The Policy aims to bring about changes in the traditional service delivery arrangements and to increase the capacity of the sector. It calls for decentralization and emphasizes that local government and communities shall be the focus of all activities relating to sanitation. All other stakeholders including the private sector, NGOs and development partners shall provide inputs into the development of the sector within the purview of overall government policy with the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) moving towards a facilitating role. This policy was formulated in 1998 whereas the Village WASH Committee under BRAC WASH was formed only in 2007. National Water Policy 1999 and National Water Management Plan 2004 The National Water Policy, promulgated in 1999, provides policy direction for the entire water sector. The goal of the national water policy is to address issues related to the harnessing and development of all forms of surface water and groundwater and management of these resources in an efficient and equitable manner. In line with the National Water Policy 1999, the National Water Management Plan 2004 was prepared envisaging, inter alia, access to appropriate sanitation to all by 2010. The National Sanitation Strategy 2005 The primary objective of the national sanitation strategy is to delineate the ways and means of achieving the national target through providing a uniform guideline for all concerned. The strategy provides definitions of important terms such as 100% sanitation, hygienic latrine, hardcore poor and basic minimum level of service. The strategy focuses on 21 specific issues that include among others approaches for improving urban sanitation, reaching hardcore poor, sustainability, monitoring and evaluation, emergency response and financing the sanitation programmes. It describes processes for improving sanitation coverage both in rural and urban areas: • Capacity of local government institutions (LGIs), particularly Union Parishads and Upazilas, should be enhanced, so that they are capacitized to play key roles in improving sanitation coverage. • DPHE should facilitate the LGIs in implementation of sanitation programs and should also be capable to monitor the quantity and quality of hygienic latrines. • In cities, where large sections of the urban popoulation are without sanitation services, service provision should be de‐linked from land tenure‐ship, thus allowing the utilities to extend their services to the slums. • Public‐private‐community partnership is to be promoted for effective sanitation service delivery to slums. It is proposed that partnership be forged between public utilities/LGIs, NGOs/private sector and slum dwellers to set up and manage community sanitation solutions in all slums. 6
• The strategy also calls for enforcement of appropriate desludging of on‐site sanitation systems and subsequent sludge disposal. The Pro‐poor Strategy for Water and Sanitation 2005 The Pro‐poor Strategy for water and sanitation services has been developed in recognition of two major needs. Firstly, there is a need for ‘direct attack on poverty’ as the benefits of growth are not distributed equitably. Secondly, the National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation, 1998 provides for a ‘safety‐net’ for hardcore poor in conjunction with reducing subsidies over time. The strategy also gives operational definitions of hardcore poor households and basic minimum level of service. For sanitation the strategy states that the WatSan Committees will perform the job of identifying households who do not have the basic minimum service level. National Development Plans and Strategies (Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper II) In order to address the development challenges in Bangladesh the government has prepared the National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction–Steps Towards Change (2009‐11), better known as the PRSP II. The national poverty strategy paper provides data and analysis on poverty reduction and other development challenges in the country. The government is in the process of finalizing the Sixth 5‐Year Plan (2010‐15). In the longer term, the government is preparing a Perspective Plan (2010‐21) which will be implemented in two 5‐Year Plans. The national development plans and strategies set out the expected development outcome of the country and an important framework for investment by the government and Development Partners. Water supply and sanitation issues are set high on the development agenda. For example, one of the 12 targets of the draft Perspective Plan is “Ensure living accommodation for the entire population by 2015, supply pure drinking water for the entire population by 2011 and bring each house under hygienic sanitation by 2013”. Sector Development Programme (SDP 2010‐25) The Local Government Division of the Ministry of LGRD&C is preparing a Sector Development Plan (SDP) for the water and sanitation sector, a draft version is available and it is expected to be approved soon. The SDP is a strategic planning document to meet emerging and future challenges; it includes a road map for development and a corresponding investment plan. The SDP will be applied for a period of 15 years in three 5‐years terms. The objective of the SDP is to provide a framework for planning, implementing, coordinating and monitoring all activities in the sector. The objectives and implementation modalities of the WASH II programme are in line with that as outlined in the rural sub‐sector of SDP and thus will significantly contribute to the development of the water and sanitation sector as a whole in a planned and coordinated way. MDGs and National Targets for Water Supply and Sanitation The MDG (Millennium Development Goals) sets the target of halving the percentage of people without safe water and basic sanitation by the year 2015. In response, the Government of 7
Bangladesh (GoB) set its national target of achieving 100% sanitation by 2010 which it later extended to 2013. This challenging target is much ahead of MDG target; thus, GoB has realized the importance of sanitation for sustainable development. The Government’s target for achieving full coverage with safe water supplies is the year 2011 which, it appears, may not be easily achieved. Review and Coordination Mechanisms for Policy Implementation The NWSS Policy 1998 states that all development activities shall be planned coordinated and monitored and for this purpose there is need to formulate a Sector Development Framework (SDF). The Local Government Ministry formulated the SDF in 2004 that guides planning, coordination and monitoring of all sector development activities with a focus on devolution of authority to LGIs, user participation, economic pricing, public‐NGO‐private partnership, and gender‐sensitivity. The specific objective of the SDF is to create conditions for coordinated sector‐wide development that respects and supports policy implementation. To coordinate, monitor and evaluate the sector activities in line with relevant policies and strategies, the Local Government Division of the Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives constituted a National Forum of Water Supply and Sanitation in 2004 with representatives from relevant organizations. In addition, a National Sanitation Taskforce has also been constituted drawing members from public, private and non‐government organizations, civil society, academia and media in order to coordinate, monitor and evaluate activities related to sanitation and hygiene promotion. Donor‐assisted projects have steering committees that review and guide projects and also have a sub‐group on water supply and sanitation of the Local Consultative Group (LCG) to oversee and coordinate these projects. The LCG sub group is also represented in the National Forum and the National Sanitation Taskforce that ensures that the donor assisted projects are in conformity with the national policies and strategies. 1.4. Review of the BRAC WASH­ I With a focus on achieving MDG target 7c for water and sanitation, BRAC with support from the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, launched in May 2006 a five‐year (WASH I) in 150 Upazilas (sub‐districts) of Bangladesh having a total population of about 38.8 million in 2006. The project aimed to improve the health situation of the rural poor and enhance equitable development through: (1) provision of sustainable and integrated WASH services in the rural areas of Bangladesh; (2) inducing hygienic behaviours to break the contamination cycle of unsanitary latrines, contaminated water, and unsafe hygiene practices; and (3) ensuring sustainability and scaling‐up of WASH services. The major features of the project have been: sanitation, promotion of hygiene practices, safe water supply, school sanitation and hygiene. The cross‐cutting concerns were: reaching the poor and ultra‐
poor, gender sensistivity, ensuring sustainabiltiy and scaling up. While each of these components is described separately below, it is important to emphasize that the programme has adopted an integrated approach to sanitation, hygiene and water in the community. 8
Sanitation In line with the National Sanitation Strategy of 2005 (see section 1.2.2), the main technology has been pit latrines with a slab that can be kept clean and a water seal for control of flies and for limiting contact with human faecal matter. The number of cement rings depends on the quality of the soil. For stable soils, the number of rings has been kept to a minimum of one. In the first 4 years of the project, there seemed to be challenges in sustainability of the latrines after the pit was filled. In response, there was a shift from a single pit to a twin‐pit latrine with a simple superstructure. The parts and elements of the superstructure are produced and marketed by Rural Sanitation Centres (RSC) whose owners are trained and often supported by a loan from BRAC‐WASH. In part, families were new users of latrines as they defecated in the open up to that time; in part the latrines were upgraded from primitive and very unhygienic open‐pit latrines. This massive effort required awareness building, social marketing and mobilisation activities, revolving loans for poor families, material subsidies (not monetary) for the extremely poor, the development of private micro‐enterprises for production and marketing of sanitation materials, and large‐scale capacity building activities for householders, local government, health volunteers, BRAC staff, and a range of community leaders in 39,000 communities. Through the programme, 25.6 million people gained access to hygienic sanitation facilities by April 2011, including 4.24 million who received subsidies or loans, 9.3 million people using hygienic latrine by changing or fixing water seal with pan and another 6.93 and 5.03 million who were motivated within the programme to construct with their own resources and with the support from other agencies respectively. This has surpassed the original target for WASH I of providing access to hygienic sanitation for 17.6 million people. Hygiene practices Hygienic behaviours are crucial in sanitation and water interventions. For sanitation, hygiene practices refer to cleaning and maintaining latrines, the use of these toilets by everyone in the home, as well as replacement when the pit is full. Water hygiene focuses on cleanliness and maintenance of the water source, as well as hygienic management of water, that is, collection, carrying, preservation, cooking and consumption. The latter refers to the challenge of motivating people to use safe sources—arsenic free‐‐ which for geo‐hydrological reasons can be more distant from the household than unsafe sources. Water hygiene also refers to safe transportation and storage of water in the home and maintaining safe distance between the tubewell and the latrine. Importantly, BRAC also promoted, certain personal hygiene behaviours provide a significant health advantage, including hand washing with soap at critical times and the safe disposal of the young child’s excreta. Developing hygienic practices depends on motivation towards the new practice, skills to carry them out, and an enabling environment making it possible to actually carry out the practice. For this, the WASH project developed an advocacy and orientation strategy that has involved training and collaborating with a large and diverse group of stakeholders: Upazilas and Union elected leaders, government staff, religious leaders, teachers, medical personnel, BRAC volunteers in its health 9
programmes, micro‐finance groups, WASH project staff, traditional theatre groups, sales outlets, masons, and so on. At the community and union level, the programme is carried out by the WASH staff and the village WASH committee (VWC) members, religious leaders (Imam), community leaders, school student brigades, and so on. The advocacy and educational activities for new behaviours and skills development for adults and children take place almost wherever there is an opportunity: meetings for clusters of households, home visits, presentations in the mosque and clinics/health stations, traditional theatre, discussions in micro‐finance groups and in school activities. The village water and sanitation committees, organized by the project also play an important role in the local programme in which it appears that the women in the committees are more active in advocating for hygienic practices. To do all this, the programme has given emphasis to supporting components such as community organization, institutional mobilization, public private partnerships, and capacity development of BRAC and other stakeholders on WASH issues, mobilizing and capacitating hundreds of thousands of people. The cycle mentioned above normally takes around 6 to 8 months and this was done by WASH staff staying at upazilas and unions in close coordination and collaboration with relevant local government institutions and VWC including other civil society organisations.. A large‐scale survey carried out by the Research and Evaluation Division (RED) of BRAC amongst 30,000 households found that knowledge of hygiene is very strong among more than 90% of the people, although actual hygienic practices has developed far more slowly. While it is certain that a great many promotional activities have taken place in all parts of the project area, some difficult challenges are ensuring practices such as maintenance of the water seal in latrines and consistent hand washing with soap at critical times. The major challenge facing WASH II will be to convert knowledge and attitude to practice. This will require consolidation of earlier efforts as this is the hardest part in behaviour change. 10
Table 1 Overview of capacity building, promotion and hardware activities (May 2006‐April 2011) Activities Capacity and promotion Advocacy Meeting at Union, Upazila & District Level Capacity Building of WASH Staff Leadership Training of VWC Training of RSC / Ring ‐slab Providers Training of Health Volunteers (SS) ToT of Religious Leaders Sanitation Support to Hardcore Poor Target 1,858 sessions Achievement 1,858 sessions 35,015 persons 77,302 persons 1,546 14,463 as required 750,000 Loan support to poor families Convert unhygienic latrine to sanitary latrine (Changing of water seal) Establishment of Rural Sanitation Centre Water Installation of deep tube well (by WASH) Establishment of piped water supply system/ Water Treatment Plant 150,000 as required 35,015 persons 77,302 persons 1,546 persons 14,463 volunteers 18,552 persons 726,542 households nos. of H/H 157,824 households 1,950,966 HH latrines 1,546 1,546 centres 3,000 3,867 deep tubewells 5 5 systems Loan support to construct platforms Repairing TW Platform by motivation Arsenic Removal Filter Installation of pond sand filter Cluster Meeting with men, women, adolescent girls’ and boys , children School WASH programme Orientation of School Management Committee Installation of School latrine Orientation of Teachers Student Brigade Training Demand based Demand based Demand based Demand based 39,000 villages X 4 times each year 4,500 33,893 platforms 15,815 tubewells 509 nos 16 pond filters 16,170,581 number sessions 4,400 nos 4,500 4,500 15,200 3,879 completed. 3,879 teachers 15,290 students (Source: BRAC MIS) of Research by RED at the programme baseline and again the mid‐line (2009) showed that roughly one in three of the existing toilets in a random sample of 30,000 households were clean in 2007 at the beginning of the field activities, while this increased to about one out of two by 2009. Furthermore, the surveys showed that use of toilets is becoming a norm, with about 7% of the population reportedly continuing to practice open defection. However, hands washing at critical times have yet 11
to become a norm and new, less familiar hygiene behaviours progress are difficult to sustain. Thus at the midline survey in 2009, while 91% of the respondents knew about wearing slippers in the latrines (many people are barefoot and contract parasites being barefooted in latrines), but physical verification found slippers near latrines in only about 1 in 13 households. Self‐reported washing hands with soap before eating increased from 8% to 20%. Thus, while progress has been made, there is a considerable distance to travel. Water New water connections have been provided in WASH I to 600,000 people in areas with severe arsenic contamination, while existing tube wells were repaired with another 1.4 million people in areas having water deficit and where wells were dangerously unhygienic. Technologies are based on the local geo‐hydrological situation and socio‐economic conditions, also emphasizing gender and equity approach of WASH programme. The water technologies were: tube wells, deep well pump sets, piped water schemes, pond sand filters, storage tanks, small piped water schemes. Other technologies, not initially planned, included the three‐ headed tube‐wells, low‐cost water treatment, household arsenic removal filters. New technologies will be piloted and if found to be appropriate and affordable, it would then be scaled up in the relevant areas. Community or individual household payments were required for all or part of the costs, for example, through loans to construct tubewell platforms. Testing of water quality was done during installation of deep tubewells in the 35 Upazilas where wells are contaminated with arsenic. The interventions, described above, focused on awareness raising, advocacy campaign and community capacity building for informing people about safe water use and developing water safety measures. The mid‐line study (2009) indicated that overall, most households drank arsenic‐free tubewell water. The study revealed that water safety measures including awareness of cleaning/purifying water and hygienic management of water increased significantly (p<0.01). The concrete‐built platforms increased in the midline to 69% in households and 92% at educational institutions. In areas where, on the average, 44% of the tubewells were contaminated with arsenic, 83% of the households drank arsenic‐free water by walking further to collect safe water. Thus the project had, in the two years between baseline and mid‐line, a significant impact. School Sanitation and hygiene education The school component of the programme focuses on hygiene promotion and education for students, training and orientation for teachers, school compound cleaning and disposal of solid waste, installation and maintenance of tubewells providing safe water and separate latrines for girls with menstrual hygiene education. The programme is unique in that it has been carried out in 4,400 secondary schools, with a large contribution—40%—required from the schools for the construction of facilities. Secondary schools were selected, after considerable discussion, because the Government has a provision in primary schools while UNICEF is providing support for primary school latrine facilities. However, about half the children are enrolled in secondary schools and there were 12
no targeted WASH interventions7. Furthermore, the baseline study in 2007 showed that almost 2 out of 5 secondary schools lacked separate latrines for girls and boys. In the schools that had latrines, the ratio was between 58 and 347 students per latrine cubicle. Before starting implementation of the school programme, BRAC found that there was a high demand for separate latrines for girls in secondary schools. Subsequent testing found that some secondary schools had arsenic‐contaminated drinking water; while after the project, school water supplies are largely free of arsenic (92% of the schools). Although this programme does not contribute to the attainment of the MDGs, it focuses specifically on empowerment of children, particularly the girls and is meant to create an enabling environment for better health and education. It is also meant to be one vehicle for stimulating improved hygiene in the household and community. The menstrual hygiene programme is seen as a contribution to basic human rights of girls as well as hopefully reducing school absenteeism. This was confirmed by the research that has been undertaken by RED8. After construction of latrine facilities, Student Brigades have been formed and training has been provided, along with orientation teachers, on school sanitation and hygiene education and menstrual hygiene for adolescents. They are expected to lead hygiene promotion activities in their respective schools. A separate curriculum and materials have been developed. WASH messages are being delivered on monthly basis in each class. BRAC WASH aims to make sure that student brigades should be non‐discriminatory, participatory, and advocates for good hygiene and groups where students learn and have fun. In at least a few areas, the programme has also led school authorities to construct more latrines on their own and has led to the introduction of sanitary pads produced by small scale enterprises. In addition to the secondary school programme, promotion and education activities for WASH are provided to both government and BRAC non‐formal primary school students. In WASH I, Student Brigades were trained to develop their capacities so that they can proactively work both in their respective schools and families in hygiene promotion. The training course has been designed in a way that the student brigades are working volunteering to change unhygienic behaviours as a change agent both in their campus, families and communities. Partnerships in communities, unions and Upazilas BRAC WASH works with the private sector and local government extensively. Partnership with local entrepreneurs has been a feature of the programme. These include local sanitation entrepreneurs, latrine ring‐makers, masons, well‐drilling groups. Loans and training were provided to 1,546 rural sanitation centres. The local sanitation entrepreneurs have been playing an important role in producing latrine materials (slabs and rings). In WASH I, the programme established 1,546 rural sanitation centres (RSCs) to meet the demand of the community. In addition another 175 RSCs will be established in addition to the existing 150 Upazilas for newly selected 20 Upazilas. To enhance the quality of the latrine materials, WASH provided training to the local entrepreneurs in collaboration 7
8
Gross enrolment in secondary school in 2008 was 56%, according to UNESCO ISCED reports.
Ghosh, Shyamal and A.K.M. Masud Rana2, Babar Kabir3, Milan K. Barua4, A.R.M. Mehrab Ali5, Tahmid Arif6, Mahidul Islam7 (December 2010) Effects of BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme in improved sanitation. BRAC Research and Evaluation Division, Dhaka.. The research report states: “Absenteeism of girl students during episodes of menstruation was reported to decrease significantly from 44% in baseline to 29% in midline (p<0.001)”. 13
with DPHE. After providing training to the local entrepreneurs, the Sub‐Assistant Engineers and the Programme Organisers from WASH also conduct monitoring visits periodically. In addition to this attempt, WASH has also been involved the VWC members to monitor the quality of the materials. WASH also involved its Monitoring and Quality Control staff to conduct periodical monitoring. Local government has been instrumental providing access to latrine subsidies through the Government’s Annual Development Programme (ADP) programme which is often under‐utilized. Local government has also helped plan sanitation programmes. Local government at the Upazila and Union levels had earlier constituted WASH committees whose participants included DPHE, education, health and local government staff; however, most government formed WASH committees had become in‐active; the main reason being the lack of monitoring and accountability of the committee. Besides, there are no adequate funds to run these committees. BRAC WASH staff helped re‐
invigorate these, with meetings being held from twice a year to one in two months. About 39,870 WASH committees, composed of 11 local citizens, have been organized, trained and are instrumental in carrying out the programme. BRAC put down a rule that 5 out of 11 members had to be woman and that the post of Secretary was had to be filled by a woman as well. To develop sustainable community organization for operating WASH programme in the rural areas, the programme adopted a strategy to stimulate bottom‐up participation and planning, and thereby demand creation, by establishing WASH committees at the village level whose members represent the entire village (and particularly the poor women), including other agencies or NGOs that may be active in the village. While subsidized distribution is a component of WASH I, stress has mainly been given to demand creation of services and leveraging additional resources from within and outside the community. The committees are formed using participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methods such as social mapping to asses the existing WATSAN facilities and economic status. Reaching the poor and ultra‐poor The WASH I programme worked hard‐to‐reach the poor and hardcore poor families. The poor (as distinguished from hardcore poor) are defined as those who have less than 0.4 hectares of land and sell manual labour for a living. For those who cannot afford to install latrines, the WASH programme helped them to get a latrine through mobilizing the Village WASH Committee for loans and linking them with the Annual Development Program fund of the government or obtaining a loan from the BRAC WASH programme. About 160,000 loans were given to poor families, with extremely high payback, due to support and pressure from peers in loan groups. The hardcore poor are those who must fulfil at least three of the following criteria: landless, homeless, have no fixed income, have less than 160 sq. meters of agricultural land, are disabled or older than 65 years. Based on this definition it was found that on the average 15.5% of the households in the intervention areas belonged to the hardcore poor. For these very poor people, the project provided subsidies, in the form of vouchers that can be used to acquire materials through a local sanitation centre. Transportation and labour for installation is borne by the beneficiary/programme participants as well as subsequent O&M costs. Almost 700,000 hardcore‐
poor families (average composition of 5 members) received grants for the whole investment cost of a 14
latrine, implying that roughly 60% of the ultra‐poor in the project area have gained access to a hygienic latrine. In the WASH I areas, 4.2 million people in poor and ultra‐poor households received subsidies or loans. Another 9.4 million were in households where latrines were improved by fixing or changing water seal. Another 11.96 million lived in households that were motivated to build or upgrade to hygienic latrines with their own resources and with the support from other agencies. The Review and Support missions from the Netherlands Embassy stated that there is a need for clearer information about subsidy/loan regulations at the intersection where the project meets the population. Specifically, this relates to selection of the poor and ultra‐poor and the availability of alternative suppliers. It should be noted that no malfeasance or corruption was found in the identification of beneficiaries for loans and subsidies, but rather, this is a question about transparent and wide‐spread information from the project towards the target population. BRAC has taken this suggestion and will work on this in WASH II. Gender sensitivity The project has worked to apply a gender perspective in the programme. For example, as in other parts of Bangladesh, a household headed by a woman was 30% more likely to have a latrine in 2007 at the beginning of WASH I. However, in 2009, households headed by men and women were equally likely to have latrines. This was probably the result of sanitation promotion. Hygiene promotion has focused on women and most of the health volunteers in the villages are women. In addition, BRAC tries to recruit women as full‐time field workers. In terms of numbers, at least 6 out of the 11 members of the VWCs are women and findings reveal that almost in all cases attendance of female members in the meetings was equal to or higher than men. However, in terms of participation in these community meetings, there are special challenges. Research on a small number of VWCs meetings showed that most of the females did not voluntarily express their opinions, in particular the ultra poor and adolescent girls. As a result, they failed to influence in decision‐making. However, male VWC members were seen to do most of the talking in the meetings. Ensuring women’s effective participation in these meetings is a difficult issue as it relates to values and customs among the community at large, and also to the lesser skills of women in expressing themselves in these types of meetings. This is an area for focus in WASH II. Hygiene promotion has largely focused on women in the project and there is little data to compare the effectiveness of the promotion for men vis‐à‐vis the promotion for women. Therefore, the monitoring of hygiene behaviours using more valid tools than self‐reporting and a try‐out of hygiene promotion focused specifically on men will both be included in WASH II. Sustainability at scale 15
WASH I worked for sustainability on a scale that is probably larger than any NGO‐led project in the world. Success of the programme will depend on the sustainability of infrastructure including well‐
used and hygienic latrines in combination hygienic practices. People must want to use latrines. Soap and water must be available near the latrine and people should wash their hands with soap. Elements of the WASH I aimed at sustainability include: training in operation and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities, implementation of the additional pit for latrines, training and loans to increase continuing entrepreneurial capacity at the local level, leadership training for the VWC‐
members. In addition, BRAC core programmes continue in these Upazilas and will play a role in reinforcing health messages through the Health division its Adolescent Development Programme and the trained Health Volunteers, as well as the BRAC micro‐credit programme. However, one challenge in WASH I has been its short time‐line. It takes time to change behaviours and the two or four years of contact with communities, unions and Upazilas may not have been sufficient. Thus, in the next phase, WASH II, a continuation is planned for selected activities in the 150 Upazilas in the WASH I programme for consolidating the gains achieved. Assessment To assess whether the activities in this behavioural change communication programme are carried out as intended, the programme has a number of monitoring mechanisms including: village water and sanitation committees, volunteers’ diaries, BRAC staff, the independent project monitoring team within the project, audits by BRAC (independent of the project) and the independent research of the RED (Research and Evaluation Division). Table 2 Selected achievements of BRAC WASH I Target (millions) Sanitation Total coverage by BRAC WASH through loan, subsidy and mobilization (1 to 4 below) 1. Construction of hygienic latrines under BRAC WASH programme meeting EKN MDG definitions (new latrine subsidized for hard‐
core poor and families and families with loan support) 2. Convert Hygienic Larine by changing and fixing water seal 3. Support from other organizations (not through DGIS contribution) 4. Construction of self‐financed latrine by social mobilization and hygiene promotion Hygiene Education Water Total Water coverage (1 and 2 below) 16
17.6 Population (millions) Achieved by April 2011 25.6 4.24 9.4 5.03 6.93 37.5 38.8 8.5 1.78 1. Total water coverage by WASH through new connections 2. Total coverage by repairing existing tube wells Source: BRAC MIS 1 0.59 7.5 1.19 The table above shows that BRAC WASH has made a significant contribution in increasing access to sanitation coverage. The achievement is considerably lower in terms of water services because the programme has given the priority to sustainable sanitation. Regarding safe water supply, the programme has given emphasis to arsenic and disaster prone areas where deep tube well or piped water supply system (both options were designed for the WASH I) were not always feasible. JMP figures indicate that the average drinking water coverage for Bangladesh is around 74%. 1.4.1. BRAC’s involvement in the Bangladesh WASH Sector The WASH sector is complex with many governmental and non‐governmental actors. The BRAC WASH programme harmonizes its work with the development programmes of the Bangladesh government and other donors and NGOs. In this, the main functional coordination takes place at the Union Council/Parishad (UP) levels. BRAC actively participates in the Union’s WATSAN Committee. The main issue which brought both BRAC and Government closer is the target of achieving 100% sanitation coverage and safe water supply. Thus, the WATSAN Committees at Upazila and Union level formed by the Government of Bangladesh had been revitalized. BRAC WASH has been playing a key role in regularizing the review meetings and coordination of the WATSAN Committees to avoid work duplication and to mobilize additional resources. BRAC WASH had identified all hard‐core poor families through the household census and shared this information with the Local Government Institutions (elected and administrative) to work toward effective use of resources. For example, the Annual Development Programme (ADP) grant for subsidized sanitary latrines and safe water supply is now distributed to those listed in the BRAC WASH census. In addition BRAC regularly shares all its report with the Government. The local government uses these reports for further assessment of their programmes and to identify the necessary steps needed to increase the water and sanitation coverage in problematic areas. BRAC WASH also collaborates with local government in the observance of national days on WASH in which government uses BRAC facilities and resources. Capacity building training and orientation were organized by the programme for Upazila members and other key personnel at the union level, including local engineers, education, health and local government officials. At the national level, the programme contributes to sectoral discussions and the ongoing reform process in the WASH sector. BRAC is a member of the sector Local Consultative Group (LCG) and participates in the LCG meetings. BRAC WASH has similarly participated in different sector development meetings and extended support to review and formulation of WASH policies and strategies. BRAC’s learning in adopting twin‐pit latrine technologies for households and two‐chamber latrines for girls in schools has been shared and recognised by the other stakeholders. BRAC WASH 17
introduced the secondary school WASH programme, including menstrual hygiene education. Additionally, BRAC WASH has close collaboration with Directorate General of Higher and Secondary Education for implementing the school WASH programme. Before starting WASH I, BRAC made partnership arrangements for training the WASH project staff with the NGO‐Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, the International Training Network (ITN) and Institutional Development Services Limited (IDSL). The main purpose of this initiative was to foster partnership with like‐minded organizations, as well as to infuse relevant experience and expertise into the WASH program. Likewise, BRAC also liaises with research organizations like the Bangladesh University for Engineering and Technology (BUET) and the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research of Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) to contribute in WASH sector. IRC of the Netherlands was a key partner in further developing the expertise of the senior level staff of BRAC WASH. BRAC WASH has cooperatively undertaken work with UNICEF and DPHE in the southeast. In response to a request made by UNICEF Bangladesh and DPHE in Cox’s Bazar, BRAC has collaborated in a UNJI (United Nations Joint Initiative) intervention in one Upazila as a model case. There has been significant increase in the population in Ukhiya Upazila primarily due to the influx of Rohingya refugees fleeing from Burma. This influx has caused additional pressure on natural resources, basic services and employment opportunities within the Upazila. This situation affects both the refugees and the host communities, gradually creating tension within and between both the communities. In order to enhance community friendly water supply and sanitation services in Ukhiya and to reduce the pressure on the existing services, BRAC is assisting DPHE and UNICEF through Village WASH Committees in constructing 69 deep tube wells and 4 ring wells. BRAC WASH will also ensure that quality latrines are provided free of cost to 2500 hard‐core poor families from UNJI funds and to 40 primary schools. BRAC has also made a commitment to further strengthen the efforts to implement UNJI Joint Plan of Action in other selected areas. 1.4.2. Lessons Learned This section provides an overview of the main lessons learnt during the WASH I project: • Hygiene practices, not only knowledge, are the aim. The hygiene promotion strategy is to be refined. • Involvement of religious leaders has been very positive. • Partnerships strengthened the programme at the local level. • A larger number of hard‐core and poor people that orginally estimate, implying the need for more subsidies. • Gender sensitivity must work on many fronts. • School sanitation takes time. • The financial model was successful and builds on BRAC’s strengths. • Data processing is time‐consuming • Special Interventions needed in tea gardens, Char and Haor Areas • Public information to be improved with greater dissemination at community level. • Upgrading unsanitary latrine to sanitary latrines takes time to motivate. 18
• Twin‐pit latrines are more sustainable and ensures continuous operation. • Low‐cost, durable sanitation technologies are needed for difficult areas. • A range of water supply technologies are needed for varied geo‐hydrological conditions. Comments on each of these lessons learned appear in the following paragraphs. Hygienic practices, not only knowledge. Refine hygiene promotion strategy. Findings of the research carried out by BRAC RED showed that knowledge about appropriate hygiene behaviour is high among beneficiaries (around 97%). BRAC Internal Evaluation also found that in the first 50 Upazilas in WASH I, selected hygiene practices were applied by 60% of the population according to self‐reports9 while in the Phase III areas (50 Upazilas where activities started 1 year later) only 40% of the population stated they practiced the key behaviours. However, this difference implies a positive impact for the on‐going hygiene promotion activities in the communities. Representative research with observations of 30,000 households at the baseline (2007) and midline (2009) showed statistically significant improvement in cleanliness of toilets, safe storage of water, cleanliness and maintenance of water points. Against this achievement, however, much improvement is still needed. Almost half the water points are not regularly cleaned by users. Only about 20% of the respondents self‐reported washing hands with soap before eating and 30% before hand‐feeding the baby. In a smaller study, about 17% of the householders are drinking arsenic‐contaminated water. Thus, knowledge remains much higher than practice, implying that continuing promotion is needed in WASH II. The Review Mission Team (Netherlands’ Review and Support Missions) concluded that BRAC needs to focus more on the stimulation of hygienic behaviour (doing) and less on knowledge development. The hygiene promotion strategy will be revised at the beginning of WASH II. In addition, simple participatory methods may be introduced focusing on overcoming resistance to change and practical support for applying hygiene practices. As it takes time to change behaviours, in WASH II, a continuation is planned for selected hygiene promotion activities in the 150 Upazilas in the WASH I phase. Involvement of religious leaders has been very positive Bangladesh has a Muslim majority and the character of the country is marked by Islam. In rural areas, where the majority of the population resides, religious leaders or imams are opinion leaders. BRAC‐
WASH decided to involve Muslim religious leaders or Imams in the hygiene promotion activities in the WASH I programme and found that many of the Imams like to be involved in social issues and help advocate appropriate WASH messages during the Friday prayers in mosques. 9
It needs to be noted that self‐reported behaviour has been found to show significantly higher results than observed behaviour. A study in Bangladesh found that self‐reports of handwashing with soap were two to three times higher than observations (Danquah, Lisa (2010) Measuring hand washing behaviour: methodological and validity issues. South Asia Hygiene Practitioners' Workshop. Dhaka, Bangladesh. http://www.irc.nl/page/51625
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The involvement was fostered in a structured way from the very beginning. The programme involved the development of a Khutba Guide based on the verses of Al‐Quran and Al‐Hadith, a training curriculum, and necessary reference materials. A 3‐day Training of Trainers (TOT) session on the Khutba Guide along with facilitation and communication skills for 200 imams in BRAC Training and Resource Centres (TARC) was also conducted. These Imam trainers then delivered one‐day orientation at the Upazila level. Twelve imams from twelve mosques from each union received this orientation. A total of 18,000 union‐level Imams have been delivering sermons (khutba) to their assigned mosques not only to provide hygiene messages but also to ensure men’s role in domestic chores to reduce women’s work burden. The mosques were selected according to the number of Muslims present in the Jumma prayer (weekly prayer on Fridays). Mosques that usually accommodate more than two hundred Muslims in the Jumma prayer were selected for the orientation. Partnerships strengthened the programme at the local level The WatSan Committee formed by the Government at Upazila and Union (lowest administrative tier of the government; typically consisting of around 10 villages) level has been made functional during this programme period, as a step towards ensuring sustainability. It was found that programmes could run smoothly and achieve desired objectives when cooperation of the government is strong and forthcoming. The effective use of local resources is greater where the committees are active. Increased number of hard‐core and poor people needing subsidy Poverty is fluid in Bangladesh and while the nation has, at the macro‐level, done well through the international economic crisis, the proportion of poor people has been increasing, not decreasing in some project areas. BRAC‐WASH was also confronted with the fact that implementation slows down because there are more hardcore poor people than during the baseline in 2006 (up from 18% to 21% in 2009) and also more poor than during baseline (up from 40% to approximately 43%). These shifts need to be taken into consideration during planning in WASH II. Gender sensitivity must work on many fronts BRAC WASH has worked to be gender sensitive in hiring staff, in constituting committees and in selecting technologies and location for facilities. For example, women and adolescent girls feel safer and comfortable when the latrines have a superstructure as it ensures privacy. However, research has shown that the interactions, for example, in committees, strongly favour men. This is an area of continuing growth for the project, ensuring that male staff is sensitive, that women can be empowered to express themselves well and have the opportunity to do this. Some concrete changes, for example, in the timing of meetings and their location may also help to ensure greater participation by women and particularly adolescent girls. Another focus of the hygiene equation is 20
specifically for the male head of the household. A pilot is planned to develop practical ways of providing more hygiene promotion to men.
School sanitation takes time BRAC has initiated WASH interventions only in secondary schools where there is a high demand for latrines. These latrines are built on a cost sharing basis (40% from the school). On completion of the facilities, WASH provides training to ensure sustainability. BRAC data show that school absenteeism during menstruation in programme schools seemed to decrease by 15% among girls from the baseline (2006‐2007) to 2009. However, as BRAC provided sanitary latrine in schools through cost sharing basis, it took some time to implement the programme. BRAC research data on exploring the reason behind the infrastructure target achievement showed that the financial crisis, unwillingness to share costs, non cooperation by the school management committee and school authority were major problems and these problems differed in different places.10 During monitoring it was found that it was difficult for students to carry out activities just after receiving training and orientation. They needed time to organize themselves after ensuring participation of all students. Financial model was successful and builds on BRAC’s strengths The financing mechanism is a combination of self‐financing, loans and subsidies and proved to be the core and a key to success of BRAC‐WASH. It builds on the decades of BRAC experience in micro‐
financing in other sectors. For WASH II, this model should be maintained in more difficult, diverse and poorer areas if similar success is to be achieved and to ensure sustainability. It is an excellent example of using community motivation to achieve changes rather than providing direct support through building of facilities only. Loan and self‐financing model with a topping up of free latrines for the hardcore poor should be central in any follow‐up programme. The Review Mission reported (Dec 2009): ‘It forms the key to success of BRAC‐WASH and even in more disperse and poorer areas the model should be maintained.’ Data processing It was found during the review process of BRAC WASH Programme that the baseline survey is comprehensive but difficult to process as it remains in ‘book’ form, not digitized. It was recommended that data needs to be recorded electronically and ultimately it could be considered to use a GIS‐system to store and analyze the data. However budget allocation for this line item was not available for the just concluded phase. Special Interventions needed in tea gardens, Char and Haor Areas WASH has faced challenges due to the diversity of geo‐hydrological conditions. For this purpose programme had to formulate different strategies as and when required to increase the access to WASH services in the hard‐to‐reach areas. In the Char11 area, programme could not be operated 10
Exploring the reasons behind different levels of infrastructural target achievement in the School Sanitation Programme of
BRAC WASH Programme, Research & Evaluation Division, BRAC 2009
11
Chars are semi‐permanent low‐lying islands in the rivers.
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smoothly all the year round due to communication problems. Likewise in haor areas due to water logging, the target activities could not be achieved. Thus, there is a need to develop and test tailor‐
made intervention strategies for these hard‐to‐reach areas. Improving public information at community level The Review Missions from the Netherlands Embassy found that there is a need for clearer information about subsidy/loan regulations at the intersection where the project meets the population. Specifically, this relates to selection of the poor and ultra‐poor and the availability of alternative suppliers. It should be noted that no malfeasance or corruption was found, but rather, this is a question about transparency and wide‐spread information. BRAC WASH has taken this suggestion and will work on this in WASH II. Upgrading unsanitary latrine to sanitary latrines takes time to motivate Transformation of existing latrines into hygienic facilities is difficult and takes more time than installation of latrine for the people who do not have any. However major emphasis has been given into converting unhygienic latrines into hygienic ones by installation of water seals, and ensuring soap and adequate water nearby the latrines. Twin‐pit latrines are more sustainable and ensures continuous operation Initially BRAC was focused on single pit latrines which are commonly used in Bangladesh. Based on the recommendation made by the Review Mission in March 2008, BRAC WASH introduced twin‐pit latrines with superstructure for the hard‐core poor, free of cost with beneficiaries contributing by bearing the transportation and installation costs as well as the entire O&M related costs. This type of latrine has one slab (and one pan) which can be connected to both of the two pits constructed beside the slab. It has been estimated that each pit will last the family of 4‐5 members for two years. The two pits could then be used in rotation where the excreta in the unused rings/pits will be digested into organic fertilizer within 18 months. One key issue is ensuring the switching pits and emptying the unused pits after 18 months. Research on a small scale has shown that switching pits must be followed up. In this case, BRAC WASH II will undertake surveys with follow‐up. Community monitoring will also be implied, first on a small scale to deal with such issues. Low‐cost, durable sanitation technologies are needed for high water‐table and hard‐to‐reach and underserved areas Many WASH Upazilas of different regions are severely affected by flash floods each year. Other areas have exceptionally high water tables. Twin pit ring‐slab latrines are not suitable for the hilly areas of Mymensingh, Chittagong and Srimangal. Thus, there is an urgent need to develop or identify appropriate technologies for the flood prone areas that are affordable and durable. Research is planned to identify appropriate technologies and designs at the beginning of WASH II. However it 22
should also be noted that BRAC initially provided families with 5 rings to construct one single pit. It was found that in many areas there is no need for five rings and that depending on the type of soil one to three rings suffices. A range of water supply technologies are needed for varied geo‐hydrological conditions Installation of new source for safe water was in demand in more than 50% percent of the study population at the baseline, and almost all of them (98.4%) preferred the tube well as a source of water. Some parts of the WASH areas (northern part of Bangladesh) have adequate, good quality water supply throughout the year. But in some areas, particularly in south and east of the country, arsenic contamination and saline intrusion in ground water aquifers compromises the quality of drinking water. It is similarly difficult to address both safe drinking water and sanitation problems in the hilly and flood prone and char areas. Initially, only deep tube wells and piped water supply schemes were planned as safe water options in WASH I. However, experience showed that these options were not always suitable in arsenic and saline prone areas. Therefore other technologies such as pond sand filters and rain water harvesting systems were been provided even though these are more difficult to operate and maintain and are also more costly per capita. Thus, for example, a piped water supply scheme was installed for a community with 39 household in the Chittagong Hill tracts. Though it is relatively costly, people were willing to pay. Experience of a pilot intervention in one Upazila of Khagrachari District showed that deep set pumps are feasible in some parts of this area. Thus, a range of suitable options need to be selected and provided across the programme area. 2... Goal and Objectives of WASH II Programme Goal To contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by providing integrated water services, sanitation and hygiene promotion expanding to hard‐to‐reach areas and to under‐served populations in collaboration with government and other stakeholders while continuing reinforcing gains made in the original WASH I areas. Specific Objectives Objective 1: New programme‐‐To provide integrated and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services to underserved populations and in hard to reach areas in 20 Upazilas. Objective2: Sustainability ‐‐ In the 150 Upazilas of the WASH I phase, to continue activities to ensure sustainability and expand toilet coverage and use to 90% from 83% of the population. Objective 3: Capacity and empowerment‐‐ To build capacity of the communities and network with local Government and other stakeholders for the implementation and sustained operation and use of installed facilities. Objective 4: Innovation‐‐ To contribute to the WASH sector, and the Bangladesh WASH sector in particular, by carrying out action‐research on long outstanding issues such as low‐cost 23
sanitation technologies for areas with high ground water tables, safe and final disposal of human waste, and so on. Expected impacts and outputs To achieve these objectives, BRAC WASH II will establish and reinforce an integrated WASH programme: Increasing the sanitation coverage in 20 Upazilas in a sustainable manner from the estimated 43% baseline coverage to 70%, including at least 50% of the households in the hard‐to‐reach and underserved areas (about 2 million people). After conducting household census, the baseline data will be available. 1. Providing safe water services for 0.5 million population through new water sources and repairing existing water points. 2. Providing separate latrines for girls in selected secondary schools in the programme area of 20 Upazilas. 3. Implementing a holistic hygiene promotion and education programme to reach more than 4.2 million people in the 20 Upazilas. Capacity building of Village WASH committees as well other community stakeholders (teachers, religious leaders, health volunteers, students, local entrepreneurs etc.) and local government bodies for programme sustainability. Population committed to continue their healthy behaviour and the proper maintenance of the water and sanitary facilities. The Local Government and community leaders continue their efforts to achieve 100% coverage on water and sanitary facilities. 4. In the 150 Upazilas of WASH I, continue activities to ensure sustainability and expand coverage as well as increasing toilet coverage and use to over 90% of the population. 5. Completing and applying high quality research, documentation and dissemination activities on, for example, durable, low‐cost technologies, hygiene behaviours, final disposal of human waste, cross‐pollution. 6. It is assumed from the experience gained through implementing WASH I, the incidence of waterborne diseases will be reduced as an impact of WASH programme, by up to 10 percentage points. 24
3... Justification, target audiences and target areas The international cooperation policy of the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (GoN) highlights focused interventions both in terms of sectoral and geographic priorities. Within this, both the theme of the proposed WASH II and its setting, in Bangladesh, fit within these country and sector priorities. Furthermore, in line with the acknowledged need for increased focus on sustainability and based on the findings from the earlier WASH I phase, there is a very strong focus in BRAC WASH II on ensuring the sustainability of achievements at the household level together with a continuation of key programming elements within the community (section 5.2). Other elements of BRAC WASH II that reflect the policy priorities of the Netherlands Government include: • An innovation component which also engages Netherlands’ and international organizations (Sections 5.4 and 7.3 and programme objective 4), • Private sector cooperation within the WASH II project (section 5.3.3), • Beginning on an experimental basis, linking Water Management Organizations (WMOs) into the WASH II programme (section 5.4). The Netherlands has committed itself to support the development of safe water supply and sanitation facilities in particular in rural areas. This support includes the effort of the GoN to ensure that 50 million people gain access to safe drinking water supply and that an additional 50 million people gain access to improved sanitary facilities by 2015 as part of its contribution to the achievement of the MDG target number 7c for water and sanitation. Altogether, the BRAC WASH I and WASH II programmes will contribute substantially to this effort by increasing access to safe sanitation for more than 27.6 million and safe water supplies for more than 2 million people. As part of this, BRAC WASH II will provide sanitation coverage for an additional 2.0 million people, hygiene education for 4.2 million people, and additional safe water coverage for 0.5 million people in particularly challenging geographic areas. The programme will also contribute to the attainment of other MDGs: Goal 1 (eradicate extreme poverty and hunger): Reduction of water born diseases contributes to the reduction of poverty and hunger. Goal 2 (Achieve primary education ): By providing hygiene education and promotion in all primary schools to teachers and pupils, the programme will contribute to reduction of water borne diseases and contribute to increasing school attendance for better education. Goal 3 (Target 3 A): Eliminate gender disparity in secondary education by providing appropriate sanitary facilities in secondary schools. Goal 5 (Target 6 Reduce child mortality rate): Integrated WASH services will contribute to reducing the incidence of water‐related diseases such as typhoid, worms, diarrhoea. 25
Goal 6 (Improve Maternal Health): Access to water and sanitation facilities for pregnant women at short distance and use of arsenic‐free water will help reduce the incidence of abortion, injury and death cases. Hygiene education can also have a significant impact on maternal health. In part thanks to the BRAC project, Bangladesh has made substantial progress in the sanitation, hygiene and water sector. As mentioned earlier, according to the most recent data of the UNICEF/WHO Joint Monitoring Program national latrine coverage stood at 52% with 24% shared latrines, while the proportion of the population with access to safe water was about 78%. Nonetheless, challenges remain. While coverage data is high, behavioural change has not been uniform: maintenance and cleanliness of facilities remains a great challenge. For example, one recent research study showed that only half of the latrines remain clean and have maintained their safe technology. A second challenge remains arsenic contamination in the water supply and the promotion of use of safe water sources. It is estimated that 35 to 77 million people live in areas affected by arsenic pollution12. Another challenge is that progress has been uneven. The populations in hard‐to‐reach and underserved areas usually living in border and coastal areas of the nation have often not benefited from WASH programming efforts. Thus, the proposed second phase programme will build on the existing framework of BRAC WASH I by applying the existing implementation model of WASH I with appropriate adaptation based on lessons learnt. The programme proposal has also been developed considering the gaps in WASH coverage and nature and reasons for exclusion in WASH. This programme focuses on the poorest people and hard‐to‐reach areas, where social indicators are among the lowest. Thus, the geographic areas proposed for WASH II will specifically focus on these challenges: selected areas of existing low sanitation coverage and use of hygienic facilities and areas where there is limited access to safe drinking water. BRAC WASH considers the following as under‐served populations in 20 hard‐to‐reach or geo‐hydrologically difficult Upazilas to be provided with services in the next period: • Char lands (accreted lands on rivers or river banks) • Haors and Beel (wetlands that normally remain under water for over 6 months) • Coastal and saline prone areas • Hilly areas • Tea gardens 12
Arqos, M., Kalra T. Et al. Arsenic exposure from drinking water, and all-cause and chronic-disease mortalities
in Bangladesh (HEALS): a prospective cohort study. Lancet. 2010 Jul 24;376(9737):252-8. Epub 2010 Jun 18.
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Box 1 Geographically excluded areas Chars are accreted lands developed through erosion and siltation from the rivers of Bangladesh. Lack of
appropriate and affordable technology, arsenic contamination and scarcity of drinking water are major problems
in these areas. Since land ownership is often not permanent and influential people tend to exercise control over
the land, WASH activities are difficult to undertake in these areas. Installation of durable and low-cost sanitation
technologies is a major problem in Haor (wetland) areas are created by water logging where high land is scarce.
Government facilities and services in these areas are extremely limited. The geo-physical livelihood
characteristics of the people of in hoar areas are unique and difficult in terms of communication and social
facilities. Safe drinking water is a major problem in the Coastal zone due to saline intrusion in the ground water.
In addition periodic disasters and tidal waves increase the scarcity of drinking water sources as well as sanitation
facilities. The hygiene situation is very poor in exposed coastal districts. Saline coasts are more vulnerable to
climate change. Moreover, increased river salinity is an increasing threat for both the environment and human
health. Hilly areas are diverse geographically with multi-ethnic populations, socio-economic deprivation, armed
conflict and post-conflict development. The refugees, who continue to enter Bangladesh from Myanmar, face
critical political and developmental challenges. Tribal and ethnic populations live in those areas with poor access
to safe water and sanitation services due to both geo-hydrological and socio-economic conditions. WASH
services and facilities provided by both government and development agencies are limited for these reasons. To
increase access through equitable distribution of water and sanitation facilities and hygiene promotion, BRAC
aims to provide WASH services to the poor and underserved populations in these hard-to-reach areas. The study
of suitable different water-sanitation technologies which began in WASH I for different geo-hydrological and
climatic zone will be undertaken in these areas.
The target groups of the programme are the whole community with special emphasis on poor and hardcore poor households. The final selection of project Upazilas will be harmonised in consultation with ongoing projects from the government and with projects supported by other agencies/organizations, for example, EKN, UNICEF, DANIDA, WaterAid Bangladesh, the World Bank, and other relevant stakeholders. A tentative agreement has been reached with the government as to the new 20 upazilas where no other agency is currently working. The inception report in 6 months time after start of WASH II will provide all details and provide a final list of the Upazilas. There will also be follow‐up within the WASH I areas because it takes time to ensure sustainability in use of services and personal hygiene practices. Thus, in the 150 Upazilas of the first phase, the programme will continue in 2011 to 2015 to reinforce hygienic behaviours, ensure sustained use of facilities and increase sanitation coverage and build capacities for this. Coverage with hygienic, well‐
used toilets will also increase. It should be noted that the BRAC programme is one of the few to take the issue of sustainability at the household level seriously as many programmes merely calculate the number of latrines or water facilities implemented without returning later to continue motivating for use, cleanliness, maintenance, the replacement and shifting to a second pit. 4... Overall Programme Concepts Similar to the BRAC WASH I programme, the overall strategy is centred on (1) access to hygienic facilities and (2) their use and maintenance, implying a strong emphasis on O&M and hygiene behaviours. Focus will continue in WASH II on creating the conditions for behavioural change and 27
sustaining these new behaviours. This also requires creating demand for services and facilities among the target population, while the effort for near universal coverage means that the poor will be served using a blend of loans for the poor and subsidies for the hard‐core poor (distribution of materials for sanitation facilities). As before, community payment or contributions will be required for some elements such as repair of wells and sanitary platforms and schools latrine facilities. The micro‐strategy is to stimulate bottom‐up participation and planning through establishing WASH committees at the village level whose members represent the entire community, including other committees and other agencies or NGOs that may be active in the community. The committees will be formed by following Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods including community mapping and awareness raising. Thus the programme will reach out the poor people as well as the whole community. Plans including strategies and phased actions (awareness raising, preparation for actions for development of facilities, implementation, handing over) are developed and negotiated with each committee and later aggregated at the Union level with a multi‐stakeholder group. These action plans will have a similar core of contents, with variation beyond this for specific local needs and demands. In the community, health volunteers (Shasthya Shebika) will be supported to ensure regular follow up at the household level by the BRAC WASH Programme Assistant and Programme Organiser. BRAC‐WASH staff will facilitate the VWC to implement action plans of the VWC apart from their main function of social mobilization and establishing a fully functional VWC. WASH II differs not only with respect to the inclusion of more difficult geographic areas. It also includes a new component for innovation, research and learning to support the challenges which these new areas will pose. This new technical assistance element, equivalent to 10% of the project budget, also provides for greater capacity building and dissemination of information from and to the project. The component, among others, focuses on trials of existing and newer technologies and more rigorous monitoring of behavioural change, gender, use of latrines, safe and final disposal of human waste, life cycle costs of sanitation and hygiene interventions, and so on. 4.1. Changing social norms and traditional practice In WASH II, several new initiatives will be launched to improve the effectiveness of the hygiene programme, with a focus on shifting emphasis decisively from knowledge to consistent practice including the sustained use of sanitary latrines. Thus, the programme will try to focus on seeking solutions to hygiene problems that are realistic and appropriate to people’s desires and ways of living with communication through channels and information relevant to each target audience.1 The project will focus on those behaviours that provide the greatest health advantage, in light of current national and international research. This implies that the list of target behaviours in WASH I will focus on: sanitation (sustained and complete removal of human excreta from human contact); water practices (maintaining the quality of water from source to mouth and use of safe water sources); personal and household hygiene (hand washing with soap and water at critical times, cleanliness and maintenance of latrines and water sources as well as participation in hygiene promotion activities). Revised strategy: The hygiene promotion strategy ( or awareness raising) will be revised in WASH II to further develop the social marketing aspects, specifically, making messages/behaviours more 28
relevant to specific subgroups such as men and mothers of young children as well as using channels of communication that are most relevant to each group. Compared to WASH I, the number of key focus behaviours will be limited to those which provide the greatest health advantage and are relevant to O&M of facilities. Professionals will help provide inputs into this revision. One element of this will be the design and trial of hygiene promotion specifically for men (heads of households). Another element will be the design and testing of new hygiene promotion materials including orienting partners in how to use them optimally. Learning and sharing workshops, including participatory activities, will also help identify and disseminate improved approaches. Capacitate for the new strategy: Training and orientation will be needed to disseminate and ensure the capacity to implement effectively the revised strategy. As noted earlier, a wide range of actors will be capacitated for hygiene promotion. Research and monitoring to support the hygiene promotion and WASH strategy: Research and trials on the effectiveness and efficiency of hygiene and sanitation approaches and technologies will be developed. The measurement of hygiene behaviours will be improved through the application of more valid tools and measurement strategies focusing on a few key practices. This will include the measurement of personal hygiene behaviours that are difficult to capture such as handwashing with soap and use of the hygienic latrine by all members of the family at home. Some small, highly focused studies may be undertaken such as: a study of the relative effectiveness of handwashing with soap, ash and only water; survey (with community monitoring) of the cleanliness of latrines and maintenance of the water seals. For the school component, studies are planned of: the impact of menstrual hygiene programmes in schools and sustainability of sanitation and hygiene in schools. Some elements of the hygiene promotion effort will be • Hygiene promotion is infused into the mapping and participatory activities undertaken by the village water committees. • There is one Community Health Volunteer (Shasthya Shebika) for every 300 households in Bangladesh and one health worker (Shasthya Kormi) for every 3,000 households. Hygiene education is part of their daily routine. • Hygiene education is included in the curriculum of the 32,000 primary schools run by BRAC which also have water and sanitation facilities, and are also located within the 170 Upazilas of WASH II • As the first step, mobilization of all possible local motivators such as members of the village water committees, imams, community health workers, school teachers, student brigades to conduct health education sessions. • Communities are mobilized through popular theatre, miking, neighbourhood/community cluster meetings and by meetings with BRAC staff. • Sanitation supply centres (RSC) provide information on hygiene together with information about construction of facilities. Role of BRAC staff, the village facilitation will be done by the Shasthya Shebiba which has been earlier discussed in social mobilisation and advocacy section. 29
4.2. Sanitation The political commitment of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) has been the major driving force for achieving progress in sanitation sector of the country. BRAC adheres to the National Policy for Safe Water and Sanitation (1998) and the National Sanitation Strategy of 2005 which defines a “hygienic latrine” as a sanitation facility the use of which effectively breaks the cycle of disease transmission. During WASH I BRAC considered the basic functions of a hygienic latrine to include all of the following: • confinement of faeces, • sealing of the passage between the squat hole and the pit to effectively block the pathways for flies and other insect vectors thereby breaking the cycle of disease transmission, and • free from odour to encourage continual use of the hygienic latrine. BRAC also follows the Pro‐Poor Strategy for Water and Sanitation Sector in Bangladesh, 2005, which stated that the basic minimum level of sanitation service is that every member of households should have access to a safe hygienic latrine – either a separate household latrine, shared latrine subject to use by maximum of two households or a community latrine used by a maximum of 10 persons per latrine unit. Efforts to achieve sanitation targets—as with water targets‐‐ can be classified into two broad categories. Firstly, the WASH Programme will motivate people through a range of awareness‐building activities to increase demand for sanitation and water technologies (sanitary latrine and suitable safe water options along with repair of existing facilities) in its target areas. Experience has shown that in general there is low demand for hygienic latrines. Thus, the programme focuses on bringing about positive change in rural people’s attitude towards sanitation practices, it is expected that this will require intensive facilitation by the Shasthya Shebika (SS). The SS will be supported by the BRAC facilitator in the Upazila. As the National Sanitation Strategy (2005) states: demand for sanitation can be effectively generated once people are properly convinced of the need for sanitation improvement; and, they will then invest their own resources into an improvement programme. The second element of the strategy is to ensure that the increased demand for sanitary latrines and safe water are met through appropriate hardware with the involvement of the private sector. There will also be a range of water and sanitation technologies depending on the geo‐hydrological conditions. In the haor and char and, flood prone areas, the strategies may differ somewhat from that of other areas in response to the extreme difficulties presented by local conditions. Thus, to provide sustainable sanitation services to the poor, a programme needs to: • Create a sustained demand for sanitation • Ensure supply of appropriate hardware • Ensure access to finance • Create an institutional support framework This section will describe these elements in more detail: Creation of sustained demand for sanitation 30
Creating a strong and sustained demand for sanitation is merged with the hygiene strategy described in the preceding section. In this, the community, its leaders and local government take major leadership in motivating the population as in community‐led total sanitation. To ensure that the gains during the initial mobilization and construction periods are sustained, it will be important to ensure follow‐up. The follow‐up period will include community survey or monitoring of use, maintenance and cleanliness of latrines where the results of the studies can then be used to continue sanitation and hygiene promotion. Use of the VWCs will be central to ensure sustainability coupled with their linkages to the local government institutions. Ensuring supply of appropriate hard ware Some local entrepreneurs are already active; others will be brought into the programme through a loan mechanism. All micro‐entrepreneurs participate in a training programme with follow‐up monitoring. A provision will also be made in WASH II for technical support to these micro‐
entrepreneurs, together with checks on the quality of their products. As had been noted in the first phase of the programme, it will be important to provide clear information, ensuring transparency, about the micro‐entrepreneurs, also enabling households to contract other local entrepreneurs whose services may be more conveniently located. The programme has introduced quality control mechanisms within the programme operations team. Certification of the products will be considered in this phase. Up to 2009, only one latrine technology had been available. Innovative technologies and designs are needed in the hard‐to‐reach areas, specifically, the coastal areas, water logged, river deltas (char), wetland (haor) with very high water tables and in hill areas with hard laterite and rocky soils. An in‐
depth research study will be undertaken on sanitation technologies and design in difficult geo‐
physical and climatic circumstances. This refers, specifically, to latrines that fulfil the following criteria: low‐cost including continuing costs to consumers in terms of finance and effort, relevance to local conditions, ease of operation, few requirements for continuing external material inputs, durability and sustainability. The research will also focus on factors such as leaching speed, efficiency of leaching and cross‐pollution using test wells from latrine pits built according to the current model. The results of the research will be quickly fed back into the programme for application. The range of technologies to be tested include some of the following: (1) single pit latrine with rings, (2) single pit off‐set latrine to enable another pit to be added as needed, (3) double/twin pit latrines and rings, (4) community latrines, (5) twin pit latrine with dumping facilities in school, (6) various composting latrines, (7) mounded latrines above ground level. There is a risk, however, in that it may not be possible to find low‐cost, durable latrine technologies suitable for all locations. Thus, because of the technological and logistical challenges of dealing with these hard‐to‐reach areas, the sanitation targets have been differentiated, that is, in the new hard‐
to‐reach and under‐served Upazilas to raise the sustained coverage and use of hygienic toilets to 70% from the estimated 43% coverage level, including at least 50% of the households in the hard‐to‐reach and underserved areas. Ensured access to finance 31
BRAC follows a three‐prone strategy to finance the construction of latrines. Better‐off families are assumed to be able to finance the construction or up‐grading of latrines from their own means. Secondly, poor families will be supported through a soft loan to construct or upgrade a latrine. Finally, as in the past, for the poorest families, management and technical support are needed, in addition to motivation. For this reason, a subsidy of Taka 1,800 to 2,400 (€18 to €24) has been provided together with software support to enable the very poorest families to have, maintain and use a sanitary latrine during the WASH I. The same strategy will be followed in BRAC WASH II to focus on the hard‐core poor. However, in WASH II subsidized latrine costs will vary depending on the suitable technologies. As before, data from a household census will be used and compared with the information from a participatory rural appraisal method to arrive at the exact number of eligible hard‐core poor for each Upazila. The validity of the beneficiary selection, the subsidies and their use will be crossed‐checked by the project’s independent monitoring cell which was organized in 2010. Creation of institutional support frame work for sustainability Upon the withdrawal of the WASH programme, local institutional support is needed to support sustainability of the WASH II achievements. There are two main channels for this. First, at the level of Upazila and Union government the WATSAN committees will be re‐invigorated during the five years of the programme. Among others, one purpose of this is to provide continued inputs for sanitation and water after the withdrawal of the programme. A second institutional channel to support sustainability is BRAC itself, with its health, micro‐credit and education programmes that are active in a large proportion of Bangladesh’s communities with continuing staff and volunteer inputs. During WASH II steps will be taken to ensure that sanitation, water and the related hygienic practices, remain infused within these on‐going programmes. As an additional sanitation activity, a study will also be undertaken to develop and test approaches to support the safe final disposal of human waste. In towns and rural areas as densely populated as those of Bangladesh, the final disposal of sludge is important, although relatively little is known about it beyond the efforts for simple sewerage and eco‐sanitation. However, safe solutions which are technically, socially and economically viable are needed. Thus, this study is a developmental aspect in the WASH II programme. In addition, trials will also be undertaken of privatized public latrines in crowded areas. 4.3. Water Compared to sanitation, the water component of the project has been a smaller but nonetheless significant aspect aiming to ensure water of adequate quality and sufficient quantity together with the practices needed to maintain and use the water safely and effectively. Two interventions are helpful to combat bacterial contamination in wells used for domestic purposes. One is the careful transport, storage and handling of water meant for human consumption. The second intervention is the repair and good maintenance of water points for which, through minimal financial input from the project, the quality of water can be improved. This includes making a platform without cracks and with good drainage to which the hand pump is tightly secured. The focus of this effort will largely be on stopping water from draining back into the well from the surface. Other simple repairs can also 32
be made. The intervention requires community contributions, some orientation or training with follow‐up checking and monitoring, including some water testing for bacterial contamination. Many of the practices required to combat bacterial contamination in water supply are behaviours that are to be incorporated into the hygiene promotion component of the programme. In addition, training related to facility maintenance, cleanliness and use are provided for users of the new and improved water sources. To ensure quality domestic water (drinking and cooking) at household level small‐scale solutions could also be applied: UV treatment, raintanks. Through this approach many more households could possibly have drinking water. Water supply options: arsenic contaminated areas Rural water supply is mainly based on ground water. However, in several parts of Bangladesh, mass pumping from the shallow aquifers has resulted in arsenic contamination. A range of technologies and interventions were implemented in WASH I such as renovation and repairing of existing water points and implementation of new deep tube wells, pond sand filters, rain water harvesting systems, deep set pumps, small scale piped water supply systems and so on. The selection among these was based on the geo‐hydrological condition of the areas and community demand. One set of options, arsenic mitigation through community or household filters proved difficult to sustain. Another option, piped water supplies provide convenience as well safe water. But the small piped water schemes are often difficult to implement and sustain in view of affordability and cost of operation and maintenance. Thus the preferred technology for combating arsenic contamination is the deep tube well where confirmed safe aquifers are available. Thus, in WASH II programme, deep tube wells‐
‐ where they are appropriate‐‐will be provided for clusters of 20 to 35 households. But where deep tube wells are not feasible due to lithology and the presence of arsenic in water, on the advice of project geologists, other alternative technologies will be implemented. Other community‐based options such as pond sand filters, water treatment plant will be considered on the basis of density of population, safe distance and socio‐economic conditions. Piped water supply will be considered for 80 to 300 households where arsenic contamination is very severe and alternatives are not available, with additional capacity and management inputs based on the experience of WASH I. In addition, BRAC experience has shown that a proportion of the people return to their contaminated tube wells when alternative, arsenic‐free, water sources are further away from the household, particularly in the rainy season. Hygiene promotion will continue to emphasize the need to use safe sources. Water Supply in saline prone areas and water scarcity areas In addition to the arsenic‐contaminated aquifers, BRAC WASH will work in some areas of water stress where, for example, salinity is a major problem. The EKN has been a significant supporter of water resources management programmes and water management organizations in Bangladesh, for example, through the IPSWAM project (Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management). Thus, the involvement of the water management organizations (WMO) in the VWCs including sanitation is something that will be explored initially on a pilot basis. 33
In areas of water stress, technologies that will be applied include: desalinization plants, pond sand filters and rain water harvesting system. The project staff will give particular emphasis to operation, maintenance and overall sustainability of these facilities. 4.4. Education) WASH in School (School Sanitation and Hygiene Schools are potentially a proven sustainable platform for information sharing, the development of new practices and learning that will be useful for children throughout their lives. Moreover the children have demonstrated to be champions of change of behaviour within the families. However, schools in rural areas either have poor sanitation facilities or none at all. The lack of separate latrines for girls is a factor in their absenteeism and dropout rates. To address this issue, WASH II will work with selected secondary school authorities to provide separate latrines that have adequate water and waste disposal facilities for girls. The result from the midline survey showed that absenteeism of girl students during episodes of menstruation decreased from 44% in 2007 (at baseline) to 29% in 2009 (p<0.001). The study implies that WASH intervention can facilitate the creation of a healthy teaching‐learning environment and positively impact on the attendance of adolescent girl students during episodes of menstruation. Beyond this, we believe that girls have the right to know about how their maturing bodies work and how to provide for their own menstrual hygiene. Thus the programme will continue in WASH II. BRAC‐WASH wants to play a catalytic role by constructing separate latrines in schools for girl student with menstrual hygiene facilities, and by providing hygiene education to teachers and students (both girls and boys). The latrines will be constructed in selected (on average 3 in each union) secondary schools of the 20 new Upazilas with limited financial contributions from WASH II, but only where geological factors apply, with approximately 50% of the total cost is being borne by the school management committee. As UNICEF and the Government are responsible for the primary school, and most adolescent girls do not reach puberty during the primary school years, WASH II will focus on secondary schools.
To make the approach sustainable, sessions will be organized by the teachers on a regular basis (once a month). For this purpose, training will be provided to teachers in all WASH Upazilas. The programme will develop and review the existing curriculum and training materials for the both teachers and students. Moreover a group which is designated as the School Brigade, consisting of 24 students from Class Six to Class Nine, will be responsible to ensure latrine operation and maintenance (O & M). Six members of brigade as well as a teacher will be trained at the local BRAC training centre. During this training they develop an action plan and monitoring format and learn about appropriate hygiene practice in school and in their families. Student brigades must be non‐
discriminatory, participatory, and advocate for good hygiene and participation where they learn and have fun. This will be the subject of monitoring activities to ensure that all children participate. Apart from the community, key/core hygiene messages will be provided to the school children studying in class six to ten. In addition, hygiene sessions will be provided in the classrooms. In conducting those sessions, various communication materials like flipcharts and posters will be used. Handwashing method will also be demonstrated in the session. Appropriate and understandable 34
information and messages will be delivered and disseminated taking into consideration the classes they are studying in. The Programme Organisers will conduct hygiene promotion sessions in the secondary schools and the Junior/Field Organisers will conduct sessions at primary schools. For better management and to ensure sustainable school WASH activities, a School WASH Committee will be formed in each school consisting of 14 members, as was found to be effective in the existing WASH programme. The Head Master is the Chairperson and a female teacher is the member secretary of the committee. In addition two members of brigade from each class will be selected as a school WASH Committee members. The Office Secretary who is responsible for keeping school accounts will be act as a treasurer in the committee. The committee will receive orientation and make a year plan of action and review through regular quarterly meeting. 4.5. Building capacity The sanitation strategy will also focus on extensive capacity building of more than ten groups of actors and collaborators in the project—staff, local government, religious and opinion leaders, educators and medical personnel, committee members, school children, local entrepreneurs, owners of rural sanitation centres, and so on. For some, new training modules will be created and an intensive training of trainers will be undertaken. Capacity building –and monitoring—are both a major focus of the programme and are closely linked to sustainability, to help ensure continued use and maintenance of facilities. Continuing progress in GIS software is opening up the possibilities of capturing and processing of geographical data. The ability to manage information on water and sanitation services has a wide‐ ranging benefits for monitoring, advocacy and accountability. From this point of view, the GIS‐
system will be used to store and analyze data in Phase II of BRAC WASH. The baseline information which was collected for 150 Upazilas during BRAC WASH I and remains in book form will also be stored. Fund constraints preclude the possibility of digitizing the entire data to be generated. The staff will be trained to operate GIS system for keeping and analysing data on water and sanitation. In WASH II, a new international component has been added to the programme. This component has three main focal points: • Support to monitoring and learning within BRAC. This would include support to RED, strengthening the monitoring efforts, documentation and dissemination. • Bringing in international experience to tackle certain issues. • Action research on a number of topics that have been identified and may be modified as the programme continues, in response to new challenges. This component will be overseen by a Research and Learning Committee composed of 2 personnel from the WASH project and 1 from BRAC‐RED, 1 from IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and one EKN‐designee. It will develop and approve the research and learning agenda, meeting at least once annually. It will also help organize the project reviews, assessments and monitoring activities. Currently, research studies or field survey activities are foreseen related to use and maintenance of sanitation facilities, sanitation technologies, safe final disposal of human waste, 35
arsenic contamination, and hand washing with soap. These are all formative activities in the sense that the results will be fed back into the programme for subsequent application at scale. Monitoring will be undertaken, beginning with trials in community monitoring, to identify the challenges and failures in sustainability of household latrines. These problems, it is expected, will largely relate to cleanliness, maintenance of the water seal and shifting to the second pit when the first is filled. On the basis of the monitoring, renewed motivational and marketing activities will be undertaken. Compared to many other projects, the BRAC‐WASH II will monitored at different levels by an unusually large number of groups including the independent monitoring section in the project, the BRAC audit department, the BRAC RED division, review and support missions, project staff at different levels. More detailed information about this is provided in the next chapter. 5... Programme Strategies BRAC WASH II from 2011 to 2016, has these main components: 1. Working in new areas: Integrated sanitation, hygiene and water in difficult‐to‐reach, underserved areas in 20 new Upazilas 2. Ensuring sustainability: Continued work, to help ensure sustainability and increase coverage in 150 Upazilas of WASH I and also in the WASH II areas 3. Capacity and empowerment: Building capacity, networking and collaboration with governmental, private, non‐governmental institutions to carry out and sustain the programme 4. Innovation: A research, dissemination and learning programme to support this programme. This section describes the main implementation strategies of the BRAC WASH II programme. 5.1. Working in new areas Twenty Upazilas, with hard‐to‐reach populations in coastal and some border areas, will be the new focus of WASH II. The programme will contain many strategies developed in WASH I taking into account the lessons learned and the challenging features of the hard‐to‐reach project areas. In WASH II there will be new efforts to develop or test and refine new technologies and designs particularly for sanitation, through the innovation component described later. There will also be pilots in community monitoring and pilot collaboration with WMOs. Other main features of WASH II are described below. 5.1.1. Cost Recovery, subsidies, cross­subsidies, revolving funds WASH II will build on its earlier experience using a wide range of financing mechanisms. Sanitation In line with the national sanitation strategy 2005, the WASH programme will allocate financial support (100% subsidy) for hardcore poor families to install slab latrines or their equivalent in geographically difficult areas. It is estimated that 20% of the population in the 20 Upazilas belong to 36
this hardcore poor families; thus an estimated 500,000 families will be addressed. This information will be further specified during the Inception phase. Additionally, poor families will be supported through a loan from WASH revolving fund. Part of the financial support for the hardcore poor and poor families will be mobilized from the allocation to sanitation in the Annual Development Plans that are formulated at Upazila level. The remaining part of the financial support will be provided by BRAC. The financial support will be provided as vouchers to the selected families for subsidies and loan alike that can be used to purchase the needed hardware (such as rings and slabs) to construct a sanitation latrine on a pilot scale. Water Points In line with the National Policy for Safe Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, 1998, BRAC‐WASH has made a provision to collect community contributions for constructing deep tube wells. The proposed WASH phase II programme will followed this provision. The user groups, with a typical average size of 20 families, will be asked to make an up‐front contribution of 10% to 20% of the total investment costs. To ensure inclusion criteria, BRAC WASH has worked to reduce costs and has taken 5% to 7% contribution in case of piped water supply scheme, in line with the government policy on cost contribution. The strategy will be followed in WASH II as required to cover socially and geographically excluded population. Revolving Funds at the Upazila Level BRAC‐WASH will follow the existing procedure for providing loans. Within the new programme areas, two types of revolving funds will be created: • A revolving fund to support micro‐enterprises to establish Rural Sanitation Centres that produce slabs and rings needed for the construction of slab latrines or their equivalent if other technologies are used. On average one enterprise will be required per union. • A revolving fund to support poor families to installation of slab latrines, construct deep set tube wells and shallow tube well platforms or their equivalent if other technologies are used. In the last few years, BRAC‐WASH has provided interest free loans to local entrepreneurs who will produce the required number of slab latrine materials. The programme will continue to promote this private sector involvement in service delivery by providing interest‐free loans of Taka 15,000 (€ 150) to local entrepreneurs which will be repaid in a period of 10 months through equal monthly instalments. The entrepreneurs will be trained. Poor families will be entitled to a loan of about Tk. 2,500 (approximately € 25) from a second revolving fund to install a slab latrine with water seal or its equivalent if other technologies are used. Similarly the poor families will be entitled to a loan of Tk. 3,000 (approximately € 30) from this fund to construct tube well platform. There will also be a provision for providing loan support to the targeted poor families amounting to Tk. 10,000 (approximately € 100) to install deep set tube wells in areas with arsenic‐contaminated shallow aquifers. Similar to the revolving fund for micro‐
entrepreneurs, the fund will be managed through BRAC‐WASH programme. As the amount is small, microfinance institutions are not willing to operate in this field. 5.1.2 Reaching the poor 37
Even within the BRAC framework – as well as in other organizations in Bangladesh‐‐it has proven very difficult to reach the hardcore poor. These people, who constitute on the average about 1 in 5 families, are extremely poor, with little or no land ownership, with little or no disposable income, with insufficient food or resources to live lives of even simple comfort. They often are part of the invisible society in the village. A few years ago, BRAC concluded that these families are not being reached with the ongoing savings‐and‐credits programme and initiated special programmes to reach these families. BRAC WASH has used participatory and consultative processes as well as financial support to reach and empower the poorest of the poor in the community. It will continue and improve on its previous efforts to reach out the poor and the very poorest with selection and financial strategies. Within the programme, specific strategies have been designed to ensure that a transparent focus on the poor and hardcore poor: • Participatory selection of the hardcore poor families during the PRA process on the basis of clear criteria that have been formulated by the GoB. • Specific financial support measures—a loan from a revolving fund or a grant in commodities—has been included in the programme to ensure the poor and the hardcore poor have access to safe sanitation and water. Table 3 Reaching the poor: some programme indicators Within 6 months after the start of the programme, BRAC will revise the following list of indicators and use the revised list for internal checking, supervision and external reporting. Upazilas • Selection criteria will be followed. Poor families • Poor families selected for loans will meet the criteria and will include BRAC and non‐BRAC families. Hardcore poor • Extremely poor (hardcore) families will meet criteria and this will be checked by mapping or other means that includes village participation. The VWCs will play a pivotal role in selecting hard‐core poor before providing them with grant support for installation of sanitary latrines. Final checking will be done on a spot basis by the project monitoring unit. • Programmes for the hardcore poor may be changed or improved subsequently. Finance • Financial transactions (cross‐subsidies, loans, etc) will be conducted according to BRAC programme rules. • Public information disseminated more broadly, ensuring transparency, about selection of families, loans, subsidies and outlets for materials. Socio‐economic mapping or equivalent participatory activities will be carried out to identify, together with the community, the extremely poor families for the programme. This will be cross‐checked, for example, by home visits. Mapping can be useful in ensuring that each family has access to sanitation and safe water. The selection of hardcore poor households for additional support or cross‐subsidies considering criteria defined by the Government, which has been refined by BRAC according to local circumstances13: 13
Source : National Sanitation Strategy. February 2005. Local Government Division; Ministry of Local Government, Rural
Development and Cooperatives; Government of Bangladesh.
38
•
•
•
•
•
•
Landless households. Pavement dwellers or homeless household head Day‐labour household head No fixed income less than 10 decimal of agricultural land, Household headed by disabled person, woman, or elderly person (65 +) headed households Table 4 Coverage: some verifiable indicators Sanitation Coverage •
•
•
•
•
•
•
5.1.2. At the start of the program a baseline survey/household census will be conducted. Sanitation coverage will increase to 70% in Upazilas, including at least 50% of the households in the hard‐to‐reach and underserved areas. Outside the hard‐to‐reach areas in the Upazilas, at least 50% of the hardcore poor families have and use latrines, drink and cook exclusively with safe water. In these areas, another 20% to 50% of the hardcore poor families will receive support from the government’s ADP block grant for sanitation. Thus between 70 ‐100% of hardcore poor will have coverage at end WASH II At least 70% of the new and improved latrines will continue being maintained and used as sanitary latrines 2 years after implementation. Sanitation coverage will increase to over 90% in WASH I Upazilas where the increase is mainly with the hardcore poor persons. Hygiene promotion and education activities in primary schools will be carried out in all BRAC Schools of the 170 Upazilas At least 70% of the secondary schools in the 20 Upazilas will have new facilities for girls with hygiene and menstrual hygiene education. Ensuring the conditions for behavioural change The BRAC WASH II programme will focus on breaking the contamination cycle by inducing behavioural change for all individuals, households, and the entire community. Hygiene related to sanitation, water, and personal hygiene behaviour is the backbone of the entire programme. WASH programmes that do not ensure consistent hygienic practices cannot be sustained. This programme has identified a number of key hygiene behaviours on which it will focus. Some of the key items from this list – which can also be understood as a set of indicators – will be refined by BRAC during the inception period or during the joint mid‐term reviews. In addition, others may be added depending on the local situation. Table 5 Practices: some key hygiene behaviours and indicators Latrines Sustained use of hygienic latrines by all household members older than 3 years old 39
•
Hand washing Water Use of hygienic latrines by all members of the household more than 3 years old when around the home. • Dispose of infant/child excreta in latrine. • Maintain latrines: pit not filled up, no visible faecal matter, kept clean with water seal intact. • Water for personal cleaning is inside or near latrine. • Women involved in site selection and in making decision for sanitary latrine installation. Hand washing with soap at three critical times of the day • Hand washing, both hands with soap and enough water, is practiced by everybody after defecation and before taking food. • Hand washing after cleaning child/baby excreta. • Soap is available and used for hand washing and personal hygiene in half or more of the poor households. • Water is available for hand washing. • Both male and female attended the hygiene session. Water points well maintained and water safely stored • Safe water sources are used for all cooking and drinking. • Safe water storage: clean storage pot, cover pot, do not dip fingers in pot. • Maintain water source used for drinking/cooking: cement platform, no cracks, pump with closed top, and so on. • Water sources are at safe and convenient distance for women and poor. • Women and poor participated in technology and site selection Social Mobilization and Advocacy WASH II will focus on breaking the contamination cycle by inducing behavioural change for all individuals, households, and the entire community. In order to raise awareness among the community people, WASH II will provide hygiene education to the different segments of the population‐‐men, women, adolescents (girls and boys) and children. As male are decision makers in their family so different meetings will be organised for them and this will influence them to become involved in ensuring proper hygiene practice in their family. Children are the most effective message carrier (change agents) to their families and society therefore different sessions will be conducted to create awareness among the groups. Appropriate communication materials like flipcharts and posters will also be used for conducting these community meetings. In addition to general hygiene education, menstrual hygiene education will be provided to the adolescent girls. Moreover, the girls/boys who do not go to school could be used as an effective conduit of information for all the girls/boys in their villages once they are orientated properly. With this view, adolescent girl/boy’s forum will be conducted. The Programme Assistants (Pas who are project staff) will organise women cluster meetings consisting of all women from 10 households while the adolescent girls cluster meetings consisting of girls from 50 households. The Junior/Field Organisers (J/FOs) will organise cluster meetings with men, adolescent boys and children (9‐11 years old) with all respective representatives from 50 households. 40
WASH staff will also organise orientation sessions for LGI (e.g., Union Parishad) representatives, school teachers, school management committee, NGO workers, other BRAC programme staff, religious leaders, local community leaders and Shasthya Shebikas (health volunteers) to disseminate core/key hygiene messages. With a view to Sanitation Month October observance, BRAC‐WASH will undertake special activities both at Upazila and Union level in 170 Upazilas in close coordination and collaboration with LGI. BRAC‐WASH will sensitize the stakeholders and opinion makers to achieve the ambitious national goal “Sanitation for All by 2013.” In order to sensitize the stakeholders and opinion makers towards achieving the MDG and ambitious national goal “Sanitation for All by 2013”, advocacy workshops were organised in 150 Upazilas and 1,546 unions and Paurashavas. Two different sessions had been conducted in one advocacy workshop with participation of LGI representatives, NGOs and other sectoral stakeholders. Like WASH I, the similar workshops will also be organised in new 20 Upazilas and 175 Unions. The sanitation strategy will motivate as well as create peer pressure for construction and continued use of sanitary latrines and supporting hygienic behaviour. The better‐off groups and opinion leaders within the communities are expected to play an advocating role. Therefore village WASH committees will have representatives of all income groups within the communities. The use of well‐designed PRA‐
methodologies will ensure that all these (including better‐off) groups will be able to participate in a meaningful manner in the decision making and planning process. The hygiene promotion strategy will be revised and will serve as a basis for the programme’s communication efforts. Key messages on hygiene practices and sanitation will be provided through different forums and media. BRAC will continue an approach to integrating its core programmes (such as health, education, and micro‐credit programmes) and to use its networks and resources to most effectively generate community support and promote greater awareness. Below are a number of channels that will be used for the social marketing and mobilisation: In order to stimulate bottom‐up participation and planning in new areas of WASH II, Village WASH Committee (VWC) will be established in the village. The VWC will develop their village Action Plans which will link with the Union WATSAN committee. These action plans will have a similar core of contents, with variation beyond this for the different villages. BRAC’s Shasthya Shebika (SS) will also be linked with VWCs. Folk Media/Popular Theatre Every part of the country has its own distinctive features. The appeal of folk media is quite personal and intimate because it can have a direct influence on people. Folk media is also an inexpensive media that allows for effective delivery of a message to a large number of people. It also provides a platform for contributory discussions. Typically, performances are attended by 250 to 400 people including women and children. Realizing this, the BRAC‐WASH project has worked with the popular theatre group of the BRAC Social Development Programme. BRAC’s popular theatre intervention is a unique communication medium. Dramas attended by many members of the community and allow men, women and children to assemble for a few hours to watch performances enacting their life stories. In WASH II, BRAC plans to integrate popular theatre with the sanitation program. The main 41
objectives of showing rural drama are to (a) raise awareness among the community on the problems relating to sanitation and hygienic practices (b) develop theatre as a communication network; and (c) use it as a catalyst of behavioural change. Three plays will be staged in different unions of each Upazila. Development of Communication Materials Different types of behavioural change communication (BCC) materials have been developed in WASH I, which will be used for different target audiences. Posters and flipcharts containing key messages on WASH will also be demonstrated among the different stakeholders. Separate BCC materials (posters and flipcharts) have been developed for community and student of secondary schools, which will be used in WASH II. In WASH II, the current learning and communication materials will be supplemented with new materials for which orientation in their optimum use will be provided to staff and volunteers. In this programme, appropriate existing BCC materials will be used, including leaflets, posters, flip charts, and video films. New materials will also be produced as per requirements of the programme in collaboration with BRAC’s communication department. For the effective communication, different messages will be developed based on the different context of WASH II programme areas and for the different target audiences. 5.2. Sustainability To ensure sustainability, activities will continue in the WASH I Upazilas. This will include attention to operation, maintenance and use of facilities with mobilization and refresher training. In the new programme areas of WASH II, the programme will be developed, from the beginning in ways that will help ensure sustainability. 5.2.1. Aspects of sustainability Sustainability is a multi‐faceted construct referring to the continuation of the infrastructure, its use and the benefits generated from this. Sustainability of the programme will be ensured by addressing the following key elements of sustainability. Technical sustainability The water and sanitation technology options provided will be durable and of good quality materials and easy to operate and maintain. Special care will be taken in the design and material quality of water seals of latrines, where used. Training on minor repair and routine operation and maintenance will be given. Latrines will be monitored and promotion will be undertaken to ensure that they remain in use as intended. Emphasis will be given to safe handling of excreta once the latrine pits are filled and changing to new pits so that the latrines installed are continuously functioning. While the maintenance of hygienic latrines is the responsibility of the individual households, the maintenance of community water points will be the responsibility of the community. An O&M fund 42
from household monthly contributions will be created at the community level for repair and maintenance. Behavioural sustainability The revision of the hygiene promotion strategy, as well as inputs from local motivators and influential persons will work to ensure sustained behaviour change. Community monitoring will be established during the programme period to assess, among others, the cleanliness and use of hygienic latrines. Research will be undertaken on selected personal hygiene behaviours such as hand washing, with follow‐up promotion as found necessary. After the end of WASH II, monitoring and follow up action will be assured by making arrangements with other BRAC programmes and national programmes. Another element to ensure a sustained effort to change behaviour is the embedding of hygiene promotion activities in other BRAC programmes such as the health programme (local health groups), the education programmes (local BRAC schools), and the micro‐credit programmes (savings‐and‐
credit groups). Organizational sustainability The functioning of the VWC is pivotal for the sustained operation of the facilities and the continuation of new hygiene practices. The committee will be linked with the Union WATSAN Committee which is a permanent structure of the local government. The VWC will also maintain contact with local producers and be linked with other related government and non‐government institutes. In addition to the VWC members, local leaders such as school teachers, religious leaders and social workers will be oriented on WASH activities, a process which aims to create a sense of ownership of the VWC. While it is expected that the level of activity of the VWCs will decrease after the end of the programme, follow‐up actions on the VWC functioning will be done by other BRAC programmes after the project period. At the Upazila level, BRAC will continue to play supporting role in the coordination committees. Within the secondary schools, responsibility for the programme will lie with the education department (BRAC or GoB) after the end of the project. Therefore, it is of upmost importance to involve leaders and educational supervisors from the beginning, including providing orientation and refreshers. The VWC members will undertake community monitoring in their area to ensure that everybody uses hygienic latrines and safe water sources. Financial sustainability The financial requirements needed to support hard‐core poor will be met through ADP grants and WASH II. The regular coordination with local government will be done to develop good relations at both Upazila and Union level to ensure shared ownership of the programme outcomes with the local government. A community O&M fund will be established and small contributions will be collected and deposited there. This fund will be used for minor repair and maintenance of the installed facilities and to run to VWCs. People will need to understand and accept the financial risks of not paying their contribution. Enabling environment A supportive environment needs to be created through national policies, strategies and programmes and also those of BRAC. BRAC, being member of important national committees like National Forum for Water Supply and Sanitation and National Task Force for Sanitation, will continue to advocate for favourable national WASH policies and strategies. WASH II will also continue to follow national 43
guidelines for water and sanitation. Within BRAC, other programmes will be linked with WASH II for follow up activities to ensure continued support. Examples are the adolescent girl of BRAC’s other programme, Sasthya Sebika of BRAC Health Programme, teachers of BRAC Education Programme, women volunteer of BRAC Palli Samaj and micro‐credit groups. Table 6 Some sustainability indicators •
•
•
•
•
5.2.2. 75% of sanitary latrines will to be used and operate as sanitary latrines two years after construction or improvement of the facility. Community water points continue operating with adequate platforms and drainage two years after construction or improvement. 90% of the households use drinking and cooking water from safe, arsenic‐free sources. 75% of the secondary schools with sanitation facilities will continue to have maintained and appropriately‐used facilities two years after implementation of the programme. 175 micro‐enterprises have received the quality certificate for services provision Phasing out In WASH I Upazilas, the programme will gradually phase out during the WASH II second phase by handing over the programme activities to the Village WASH Committee (VWC). As the committee has been involved in planning, selection of beneficiaries, distribution of resources, monitoring and decision‐making regarding WASH from the beginning of the programme it is expected that they will take responsibility of programme continuation. Once the VWCs are trained and their capacity has been enhanced, it is expected that the villagers through VWCs will maintain and operate the systems. In addition VWCs will have a close linkage with the Local Government Institution at union level (who will be advisor of the committee) to mobilize the Government fund allocated for water, sanitation and hygiene after the programme period to attain 100% coverage for drinking water and sanitation. Moreover at the end of the programme there will be a sharing meeting in each of the village wash committee in presence of the representative of Local Government Institutions and BRAC other programme e.g., member of village organization, health volunteer, teachers, adolescent peer leaders so that they can take over the activities in their respective areas. 5.3. Capacity and empowerment A central feature of the programme—in both WASH II and WASH I areas—is the effort to build capacities and empower people and their institutions. The programme also collaborates closely with and supports government and private sector institutions as indicated below. 5.3.1.
Capacity and collaboration with local institutions
Village WASH committees Village WASH committees (VWC) will be established in all villages in the programme area: the estimated total of newly established VWC in the 20 new Upazilas will be around 4,400. The committees are meant be the platform for the poor to participate in programme activities and 44
thereby ensure that they benefit from it. The committees will also be linked to BRAC’s Village Organisations (VOs) which are set up to strengthen the capacity of the poor for sustainable development and enable the poor to participate in the national development process. In addition, other NGO microfinance groups will also be linked with this intervention. However, the WASH committees will play a central important role in hygiene education, identification of the poor and hardcore poor, the planning of the deep tube well for safe water supply, and so on. The VWCs will have 11 members – 6 women and 5 men – and the member secretary will be in all cases a women; election of members is done every two years. This will ensure an adequate representation of women and will enhance a more gender‐balanced decision making process. The members of the VWCs will receive training to prepare them for the role in the committee. Involvement of Religious Institutions The involvement of imams for hygiene promotion in WASH I has been very positive. Many of them like to be involved in social issues and help to advocate for appropriate WASH during the Friday prayers in mosques. Women in the community report that this has helped to convince their husbands to invest in latrines. In addition, when the imams or religious leaders explain changes in gender roles on the basis of belief, people are influenced to change. Similarly initiatives were taken under WASH I to bring the different denominations of the Christian religion to use a common guide book for the Sunday sermons. In WASH II, this programme will be continued. Though BRAC WASH organised hygiene education sessions in religious institutions of the Hindu faith, the programme may have been less intense as worshipers do not congregate at specific times as those who follow Islam or Christianity. Involvement of Social Institutions The existing formal and informal institutions, such as youth clubs/CBOs, religious centres, and local educational institutions including primary and secondary schools and madrasas, will be mobilized to create mass awareness as well as generate greater support. These institutions are unique resources at the community level, and their influential leaders will be important in mobilising support in the community. Performance Awards In order to further motivate volunteers and community members to perform their best to mobilize the community for sanitation and hygiene, individuals and institutions of exceptional high achievement in advancing the goals of the programme will be presented with incentives and awards. The village WASH committees and other local social institutions at the union, and village levels will be eligible to receive these small awards. 5.3.2. Collaboration with the Government Commitment and leadership of local government are crucial for the success of the WASH project. The project succeeds best where the Upazila and union officials, and local authorities for engineering, education, and health are actively involved and have a strong sense of ownership of the entire WASH effort. In WASH I, the project learned that a strong and mutual relationship, based on respect and 45
understanding, takes time to establish. Research in 200814 helped guide and refine the fieldwork with the local government, addressing issues such as personal style, governance and accountability, relations with local NGOs. A greater sense of ownership was also created when local government provided funding for water and sanitation activities through Annual Development Programme grants. For WASH II, it is known that an initial challenge will be promoting the project strategy in the new Upazilas that is convincing local officials about the purpose and value of software support and motivational activities, while providing transparent and relatively modest loans and subsidies in the form of materials. In addition, from the outset, details need to be addressed such as the provision from the central government of letters authorizing local government to cooperate with the project. 5.3.3. Private sector Private sector participation is essential for the development of the programme and it takes several forms. First, for service delivery, direct support will be provided in terms of loans, training and monitoring of local sanitation entrepreneurs. In WASH I, 1,546 local sanitation centres received loans and training to participate in the programme. In WASH II areas, there will be 310 private rural sanitation centres capacitated and involved in implementation. The programme also brings substantially more work to private sector masons and those involved in construction overall. It increases the purchase of soap and stimulates the production of menstrual pads. A second feature of private sector participation is the collaboration with and involvement of local NGOs in project activities. (Lastly, WASH II will involve the mass mobilization of gatekeepers and local leaders in guiding and promotion within the project areas. Local Capacity Building Capacity building of key stakeholders—governmental, non‐governmental, and community—at all levels is a prerequisite for long‐term sustainability and scaling up of successful models. Considerable programme resources are dedicated to capacity building. To enhance learning in a meaningful way, space and resources for learning are created within the programme at all levels. Monitoring, evaluation, and documentation, participatory training activities are integral part of the learning efforts in this programme. The BRAC Training Division will be responsible for training all levels within the programme. Sanitation volunteers, local government representatives, committee members, community volunteers will all be properly trained to execute the activities needed to make the total sanitation program a success. Successful trainees will also be recruited to train others as has been done effectively, for example, within the Imam training programme. Advocacy Workshop 14
See, for example, Ahmed, Shamim and Hasanur Rahman, Mamun‐Ur‐Rashid,Bayazid Hasan (2008) Understanding the Relationship between Government and BRAC in Implementing WASH Programme. Working Paper Number 2. BRAC Research and Evaluation Division, Dhaka. 46
In the preparatory phase, a one‐day Advocacy Workshop will be organised in each district, Upazila and Union. The local level formal and non‐formal leaders, public‐private functionaries, health volunteers, and other stakeholders will participate in these workshops. There will be a series of tailor‐made training projects and learning‐by‐doing. For instance: • The capacity of BRAC field staff will be built through a series of training projects on hygiene education, sanitation, and so on. • Training programmes will be developed to strengthen the capacity of LGI representatives/staff and WATSAN committees. • Training programmes of the VWCs • Orientation programmes for local leaders such as school teachers, imams, etc. This list illustrates that the programme is taking a learning approach to ensure effective programming and it also builds capacity of those involved. Table 7 Some indicators for learning and capacity building Capacity building •
To help ensure sustainability, a wide range of formal capacity building activities will be implemented for BRAC staff, UP and community members, local government and village committees •
Capacity building will be of good quality reflecting BRAC’s participatory capacity building and planning styles, with spot assessments of quality of the training. To check the quality of the training, the BRAC Research and Evaluation Division will be invited to monitor selected training programmes as they are being carried out and afterwards. 5.3.4. Gender sensitivity BRAC believes that poverty cannot be eradicated without the reconstruction of gender roles in the society. While women are not a homogenous, weak and vulnerable group – but heterogeneous and diverse in their strengths and weaknesses, abilities and interests—nonetheless, the empowerment of all women is a precondition for sustainable poverty alleviation. Women and men usually have very different roles in water and sanitation activities; these differences are particularly pronounced in rural areas. Women are most often the users, providers, and managers of water in rural households and are the guardians of household hygiene. Women have a strong incentive to acquire and maintain improved, conveniently located water facilities, since they often spend more time collecting water. Given their long‐established, active role, women usually are very knowledgeable about current water sources, their quality and reliability, and any restrictions to their use. They will also be key players in implementing improved hygiene behaviours. Men are usually more concerned with water for irrigation or for livestock. Latrines help women tremendously, in terms of health, safety, privacy, dignity and convenience. Women who are pregnant, who are menstruating, who do not want to restrict their food and liquid intake during the day must all have hygienic, private toilets. Hygiene promotion and education not 47
only improve the health of women, but as gate‐keepers of the lives of their families, promotion/education for women improves the health of their children and husbands. While women are often leaders in terms of hygiene, cleanliness in the household, men traditionally have a stronger role than women in public and financial decision‐making. Because of these different roles and incentives, it is important to fully involve both women and men in demand‐driven water and sanitation programmes, where communities decide what type of systems they want and are willing to help finance. To increase and improve women’s access to information BRAC will continue to provide hygiene education to at least one woman in each household in order to ensure hygiene practices by the household members. However, hygiene and sanitation, to be effective and gender‐sensitive must also target men. Thus BRAC will provide hygiene promotion/education to different ways, channels and messages appropriate to men for approximately one man from each household, beginning with a set of trials. To empower women in planning, decision making and implementation of the programme women will continue to be involved and hold key positions in the Village WASH Committee. Women will be represented from the different group i.e. poor, hard‐core poor to address their need and raise their voice and choice on WASH. However, further efforts are needed to help women have the ability to express themselves clearly on points they find important‐‐‐ and help men provide the opportunities and be willing to listen on an equal basis. This is a challenging issue as it relates to traditional relations between men and women in the society at large. In addition, BRAC staff must be sensitive to gender issues within BRAC as well as the poor women living in the villages. Staff will be received Gender Analysis and Gender sensitization training to improve their motivation and skills on inclusion, equity and poverty among WASH staff at all levels. Women’s forums or discussion meetings will also be organized to create an opportunity to sit together with local government where they can bring up WASH related issues. The main results of the meetings will be fed back into the overall programme. Female staff will also be recruited in the management position and given priority for non traditional roles as monitors, trainers, accountants and consultants. Table 8 Some gender indicators Benefits continue •
•
Programme inputs •
•
•
At least 4 out of 5 households have toilets located conveniently for use and affording sufficient privacy. Water sources for drinking, cooking, domestic use and perhaps other uses are located within 50 meters or less. Women users decide on the location of water and sanitary latrine points, given technical guidance by the programme. Women equally with men have voice in the selection of technology. A detailed hygiene education/promotion intervention is designed and 48
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
carried out for men and adolescent boys and another for women and adolescent girls. Alternative water and sanitation technologies are gender friendly. Technological training organized for women and adolescent Girls with men and boys. Menstrual hygiene education and low cost sanitary napkin promotion are facilitated for girls and young women. At least one woman and one man in each household are involved in hygiene promotion/education. All girls and boys in schools in class 6 and above, share equally in all tasks for fetching water and cleaning sanitation and water facilities. Separate toilets are provided for girls and boys with water nearby and menstrual hygiene facilities. Toilets kept open during school hours. WASH committees have 60% number of women from different walks of life and efforts will be undertaken to stimulate their equal participation in the committees. Action Research •
A pilot study will be undertaken of hygiene promotion developed specifically for men who are heads of households and its positive results will be applied within the project. Income/ Employment •
Where possible, the programme has a positive impact on income for women for example in the sale of soap and sanitary napkin, Rural Sanitation Centre (local entrepreneurs), etc. Management •
BRAC will pro‐actively attract women for mid and senior level management positions in the programme team. 5.4. Innovation component The BRAC WASH II programme will contain a large fund of approximately € 1.5 million whose main purpose is to finance four or five action research programmes on issues that are identified as critical to the success and sustainability of the BRAC WASH programme. These action research programmes will include extensive piloting of identified options. Scalability within the BRAC programmes as well as scalability within the Bangladesh WASH sector at large will be crucial indicators of success. All action research programmes will be carried out jointly with selected staff of BRAC’s Research and Evaluation Department. Three topics of research have been identified with the remaining to be determined: sanitation technologies, measuring hygiene practices and working with water resources management organizations. Technology challenges Unfortunately, a substantial population, including those targeted in BRAC WASH II, live in areas where the existing low‐cost pit latrines are in‐operable or only work during the dry season. Durable and effective technologies of low‐cost for poor people, for household sanitation in difficult geo‐
physical conditions do not exist, or exist on sufficient scale, in Bangladesh. Therefore, more varied technical options for sanitation will be tested and incorporated into WASH II to be made available for 49
water and sanitation in the hard‐to‐reach areas. These will be tested at the beginning of WASH II through a major in‐depth research and practical assessment studies. The research will examine all current technologies/designs in depth from the point of view of relevance, applicability, costs including continuing costs to consumers in terms of finance and effort, ease of operation, requirements for continuing external material inputs, durability and sustainability. The results of the research will be fed back into the programme for application in the second and third years. Examples of technologies to be studied and simplified or made lower‐cost for high water‐table areas include: composting latrines (ecosan), mounded latrines, raised latrines and modified septic tanks. Each of these has many different designs, building techniques and costs many of which deserve investigation. However, the risk remains that it may not be possible to find low‐cost, durable technologies for each situation. While not yet fully determined, another possibility for research may focus on water technologies. A range of at least 5 technologies and interventions are available to assure the safe quality and quantity of water needed for drinking and cooking, sanitation and hygiene practice with selection based on need and demand. The technologies/interventions among which a selection will be made are: (1) repair of existing water supplies such as bore‐holes/pumps/platforms, (2) installation of new deep tube wells, and (3) small piped water schemes (4) Pond Sand Filter , (5) Desalinization Plant, (6) Rain Water Harvesting Tank and (7) Innovation of suitable technological option; (8) household and group arsenic removal technologies. However, each of these has its own challenges with respect to sustainability, service to the very poor, costs and O&M. Whichever topics might be selected, each will be the subject of in‐depth investigation in various settings. The results would be fed back into the BRAC water implementation programme. Measuring hygiene practices Improvements in personal hygiene practices are at the heart of the BRAC WASH programme. It is, however, notoriously difficult to measure personal behaviours such as hand washing with soap after defecation and before eating. Similarly, while it is not difficult, through spot checks, to determine if a latrine is used, it is far more difficult to measure latrine use for all members of the family when they are around the household. There is a tendency for programmes to measure behavioural change by asking people about their own practices. However research15 in Bangladesh, among others, has shown that self‐reports of hand washing behaviour are 2 to 3 times higher than data from observations. However, observations are expensive and complicated to carry out. The main tools include: informant interviews, household or great pocket voting, group ranking, spot checks of physical conditions and demonstrations. Each has its benefits and difficulties. Despite these difficulties, it is essential to be able to measure with some degree of confidence, changes in personal hygienic practices. Only with this can the effectiveness of hygiene programmes be determined, or improved. This research will examine different tools for specific practices as well as sampling procedures that might enable findings with a smaller group to be generalized to a larger 15
Danquah, Lisa (2010) Measuring hand washing behaviour: Methodological and validity issues. http://www.irc.nl/page/51626
50
group. It will also examine costs in terms of money, skilled manpower and training/supervision required. Water Resources Management Organizations Managing water resources in Bangladesh presents significant challenges related, for example, to salinization, flooding, arsenic intrusion. BRAC WASH will work in some of areas where each of these marks of water stress obtains. The EKN has been a significant supporter of water resources management programmes and water management organizations in Bangladesh, for example, through the IPSWAM project (Integrated Planning for Sustainable Water Management). Thus, the involvement of the water management organizations (WMO) is something that can be explored on a pilot basis. The focus will be, on the one hand, on implementation of BRAC WASH activities through the possible merger of village WASH committees with strong WMOs to form a cohesive group in WASH Ii working areas. These pilots will be carefully assessed before dissemination of the experience within the programme and outside. The effort can then, if initially successful, proceed further to addressing water resource issues that will prevent continuing loss or contamination of fresh water supplies and/or reduce the impact of flooding. For the water supply, the role for WMOs in construction and for Operations and Maintenance can be foreseen. In sanitation the possible areas of intervention could be in emptying the latrines and ensure that the content of the pit latrines is used in an environmental effective way. At least 20 WMO will be involved in BRAC II as this may enhance the sustainability of WASH operations and drinking water supply. Initially WASH II will work with 5 WMOs and then scale up. Management of the innovation component External parties will be invited to participate in tenders. The ToR for each individual tender will be developed by an innovation committee consisting of five persons: (a) two persons from BRAC, (b) one person representing EKN (c) one person representing IRC and (d) one person representing Netherlands Water Partnership. The final selection will be done by an independent committee consisting of three content experts on the basis of an agreed framework and guidelines which will be developed during the inception phase of the programme. The tender will follow a two‐step approach: as a first step interested parties will be invited to submit short concept notes, in a second phase a maximum of 5 short‐listed parties will be invited to develop a full proposal. Table 9 Innovation component indicators Innovation research •
Four to five high quality researches will be completed in timely fashion on key challenges in BRAC WASH II and the water sector more generally. Sanitation technologies •
A range of technology and design choices for latrines will be tested, based cost, durability, demand and geo‐hydrological condition of the areas. Action research is completed and applied to develop low‐cost latrine technologies giving 11 months of use (at least) in flood‐prone areas. •
51
Measuring hygiene •
practices Testing and identification of hygiene measurement practices that are practical for use by staff, sufficiently low‐cost and provide valid information. Collaboration with •
WMO’s Pilot of collaboration with strong WMOs and VWCs completed with lessons learned fed into programme. Capacity building •
activities Capacity building will be of good quality reflecting BRAC’s participatory capacity building and planning styles, with spot assessments of quality of the training using a small number of benchmarks. 6... Outputs and activities Objective 1 New programme: Create integrated and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services in hard‐ to‐reach areas and to underserved populations Under Objective 1, the following outputs and activities have been defined. Output 1.1 Good hygiene behaviour practiced by men, women, children at the individual and community level. 1.1.1 Development of hygiene promotion and education trajectory/strategy throughout whole life‐time of the programme using multiple channels of communication for different socio‐economic levels and geographic conditions. 1.1.2 Develop and distribute IEC materials in all Upazilas that are designed to reach men, women, adolescent girls and children. Conduct awareness raising sessions in each village for different target audiences on 1.1.3 WASH issues. No further actions in the village 1.1.4 Adolescent girls, boys orientation at secondary schools on ……(24 per union/pourasava) 1.1.5 Intensive hygiene promotion results in improve hygienic practices which are measured accurately (although not always for large samples) 1.1.6 Conduct hygiene education sessions in primary, secondary and NGO schools even in schools without sanitary and water facilities 1.1.7 Formation and training of Student Brigade to maintain hygiene practice in secondary schools under WASH Programme and be champions of change in their villages. 1.1.8 Conduct menstrual hygiene education session for adolescent girls’ and young women in schools and community Output 1.2 Suitable water points installed in the underserved and hard‐to‐reach areas. 1.2.1 Identify suitable water options and select the requirement together with village WASH Committee and community members 1.2.2 Installation of Tube wells in the underserved areas and in the hard to reach areas by VWC with support from BRAC. 1.2.3 Installation of different water options (RWHS, PSF, Deep set pump, Desalinization Plant etc.) where suitable. 1.2.4 Repair existing PSF and other water points as required together with the VWC 52
Output 1.3 Individual and shared sanitary latrines built and used for 70% of the population and 50% households in the hard to reach and under‐served areas 1.3.1 Set up Rural Sanitation Centres (micro‐enterprises) at Union level through loans. 1.3.2 Provide loans to poor households to construct sanitary latrines in their households. 1.3.3. Selection of the hardcore poor people and provide subsidized latrine to them Output 1.4 Environment friendly secondary schools for girls and boys in rural areas. 1.4.1 Meeting and orientation of School Management Committee (SMC). 1.4.2 Installation of circa 40 separate sanitary latrine for girls in secondary school with menstrual hygiene facilities. Payment school funds/BRAC‐WASH II/local government. 1.4.3 Capacity building training for student brigade and change agents within their villages 1.4.4 Orientation and advocacy meetings with (secondary) school education department authorities to gain support for sustaining and good use of the school facilities. Objective 2: Sustainability ‐‐ In the 150 Upazilas of the WASH I phase, to continue activities to ensure sustainability and expand toilet coverage and use to 90% of the population. Under Objective 2, the following outputs and activities have been defined. Output 2.1 Ensure capacity through staff training & orientation 2.1.1 Orientation of BRAC staff and (BRAC) community health volunteers once during a two days seminar on how to enhance sustainability of personal healthy living practices. 2.1.2 Student brigade, teacher, SMC orientation in schools where initial training was not completed. Output 2.2 Hygiene promotion and reinforcing selected hygienic practices 2.2.1 Investigations and remediation of problems among latrines/water points implemented earlier 2.2.2 Trial in one area of (1) Community hygiene inspection (community monitoring) tried out for sanitation cleanliness and maintenance use of WASH facilities (2) Student brigades training for school 2.2.3 Action taken to improve situation in schools not up to basic standard 2.2.4 Arsenic testing of Deep tubewells installed by WASH I in arsenic affected areas: and collaborate with government for alternative sources where required 2.2.5 Joint celebration special days (e.g., Sanitation month) 2.2.6 Completion all schools from WASH I Output 2.3 Sanitation coverage increased through subsidy for hard core poor 2.3.1 Orientation of local entrepreneurs on construction, finance, sanitation promotion 2.3.2 Improved communication about selection of poor, hardcore poor and entrepreneurs 2.3.3 Awareness raising needed through VWC: that even with no money you can change your way of living and create a more healthy living environment. 53
Objective 3 Capacity and empowerment‐‐ To build capacity of the communities and network with local Government and other stakeholders for the implementation and sustained operation and use of installed facilities. Under Objective 3, the following outputs and activities have been defined. Output 3.1 BRAC has the capacity to efficiently and effectively implement the programme through community participation 3.1.1 Organize one WASH Training for Programme staff from Central to field level management at all levels – Union, Upazila and Regional. 3.1.2. Developed Trainer team of 10 people and module to train WASH field level staff 3.1.3 Conduct exposure visits on WASH issues within and outside the project area and even outside or within Bangladesh. Output 3.2 At least 70% of villages have active Village WASH Committees (VWC). 3.2.1 Conduct 100% household Baseline Survey of in the new 20 upazilas of WASH II to initiate committee formation and to identify the needs regarding WASH and socio‐economic condition of the areas, to be used for planning and monitoring purposes. 3.2.2 Formation of Village WASH Committee in each of the villages of all the extended 20 upazilas through PRA. 3.2.3 Developed Village WASH action plan with VWC with support from BRAC facilitator 3.2.3 Facilitate bimonthly review and planning meeting of VWC each village by WASH staff. 3.2.4 Organize once an orientation at Union level and leadership training for the VWC at BRAC training facilities 3.2.5 Develop Community Monitoring system on a small scale first for testing and then disseminating the lessons. 3.2.6 Preparation for sustainability of water and sanitation facilities: training and O&M fund Output 3.3 Participation of women, disadvantaged groups and adolescents in the WASH Programme 3.3.1 Actively support poor women to effectively participate in decision making and planning as members of WASH Committee. 3.3.2 Organize Women Conventions in WASH working areas. 3.3. 3 Organize once adolescent girls’ and boys’ Forum in each Programme areas up to the Union level. Output 3.4 Effective coordination and support to Governmental organizations and stakeholders at union and Upazila level through mobilization/advocacy 3.4.1 Organized Advocacy workshop at union, Upazila and district level. 3.4.2 Participate in and conduct coordination meeting in every six months at Upazila level 3.4.3 Participate in and conduct coordination meeting in every six months at union level 3.4.4. Participate in the national forums and meetings organized by the Local Government Division and others 3.4. 5 Mobilize 20% of the Government Annual Development Program (ADP) funds to get additional and complementary support from Governments for the poor and hardcore poor to construct drinking water points and latrines. 3.4.6 Organize periodical meetings at head office level to ensure senior level coordination 54
Output 3.5 Leadership of role teachers, students, religious leaders and other BRAC projects in programme implementation. 3.5.1 Organized capacity training and orientation for • UP elected representatives of LGI • Upazila officers of Education Department • Teachers and students • Religious leaders • Local Entrepreneurs • BRAC school teachers and Health Volunteers 3.5.2 Capacity building training/orientation of • BRAC School teachers • BRAC Health Volunteers • BRAC VO Members Objective 4 : Innovation‐‐ To contribute to the WASH sector, and the Bangladesh WASH sector in particular, by carrying out action‐research on long outstanding issues such as low‐cost sanitation technologies for areas with high ground water tables, safe and final disposal of human waste, and so on. Under Objective 4, the following outputs and activities have been defined. Output 4.1 BRAC WASH has a Research and Learning component which improves the effectiveness of the WASH project. 4.1.1 BRAC Research Division conducts in‐depth baseline, mid‐line and final sample survey for independent assessment purposes. 4.1.2 Research and Learning Committee (composed of 2 personnel from the WASH project and 1 from BRAC‐Research Division, 1 from IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and one EKN‐designee) develop and approve the research and learning agenda, meeting at least once annually. 4.1.3 Research capacity and quality are ensured 4.1.4 Pilot experiment with 20 WMOs (initially 5) in BRAC I and II WASH areas on their involvement in the awareness raising and the operational responsibility of O+M of water supply system in the villages within their area of geographical responsibility 4.1.5 BRAC uses selected research results to implement its programme at‐scale for sustained hygiene, water, sanitation and education Output 4.2 Appropriate and sustainable sanitation and water technology developed for hard to reach areas. 4.2.1. Hire consultants and researchers to conduct action research for large options appropriate water‐sanitation technologies in the hard to reach and underserved areas. 4.2.2. Pilot innovative suitable technologies as required. 4.2.3 Intensive hygiene promotion results in improve hygienic practices which are measured accurately (although not always for large samples) Output 4.3 Disseminated lessons learned and shared experiences with other stakeholders 55
4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.3 Organize workshops at national and international level. Joint support and review missions conducted by BRAC WASH management and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre WASH Documentation in mass and printed media. Collaboration 7.
At the national level, coordination is largely undertaken through the National Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation, which has been formed by the Local Government Division and consists of members from the government, donor and NGO sectors (including BRAC). At the national level the programme emphasizes learning lessons from other initiatives and shares the experiences as well disseminating key findings. At the district level BRAC participates in the monthly district development and coordination committee meetings which are organized by the district administrative head (Deputy Commissioner) and include the participation of major NGOs. The project objectives and progress are shared with the other development partners to harmonize efforts and resources. The committee meetings also serve to resolve any difficulties. BRAC also participates in the Upazila development and coordination meetings and similarly discusses relevant project issues. The Upazila level coordination is vital for the programme as it is from this level that the support from the government agencies, located in the Upazila headquarters and its outreach offices, are accessed by the programme. At this level it will be ensured that there is no duplication of work in the Upazila with the government's and other NGOs activities and that there is synergy with the programme. BRAC similarly assists in ensuring that the Upazila WATSAN committees are functional and meet regularly. BRAC is also a member of the Upazila WATSAN Committee. Functional coordination is done at the Union Parishad (UP) level which is the lowest tier of the local government. BRAC will actively facilitate and participate in the Union's WATSAN Committee and actively support its activities, ensuring that sufficient attention is given to hygiene promotion. It is expected that the UPs will play an important role in facilitating the project planning and implementation. Formal orientation sessions will be arranged so that the UP members and other key personnel at the Union level develop the required capacity with respect to the project. Table 10 Some indicators for collaboration and participation National, District •
BRAC will be actively involved in the National Forum for Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation and monthly district coordination meeting. Upazila •
BRAC will work with the Upazila WATSAN committee to stimulate their leadership in the programme and allocation of budget. Union •
BRAC will work with the Union WATSAN committee to stimulate 56
their leadership in the programme. Villages •
•
Within BRAC 7.1. •
WASH committees at the village level will represent/link with groups related to the other institutions in the village, to ensure coordination and to ensure that the benefits of the programme are accessible to all the poor and hardcore poor. The village committees will undertake their own planning based on participatory assessment in their village. BRAC will ensure cooperation of other programme/department personnel in support of this programme at all levels. Bottom­up management: local planning At the village level, the VWCs will play a pivotal role. These VWCs will comprise of people who represent all social and economic strata in the village, particularly poor families and groups linked to other institutions and other NGOs, to ensure coordination and to ensure that the benefits of the programme are accessible to all community members. BRAC will also ensure that simple rules are understood, and adhered to regarding membership of these committees members (for example, if someone does not attend 3 meeting in a row, they may be replaced) as well as rules that enable a committee to be disbanded if it is not functioning. Participatory planning will take place, with the committees planning for a core set of common activities but also formulating plans for activities that reflect their own situation based on their own assessment. The community schemes will prepare and formally endorsed by the VWC will be formally endorsed by it. Transparent and open decision‐making will also be ensured, particularly where this involves provision of subsidies or cross‐subsidies to the hard‐core poor. In communities where there is a piped water system, it is preferred to have one committee, handing water, sanitation and hygiene to ensure integration. This will be tried out on a trial basis. Based on the lessons learned during BRAC WASH I regarding the challenges around setting up VWCs, progress will be reviewed after 6 months and again after one year, with the option of modifying the plan. For example, in some communities, it may be as effective but easier to work through an existing committee. The UPs together with BRAC staff will guide the programme in setting priorities and mobilizing the village committees. 7.2. Collaboration within BRAC BRAC has a staff of 60,000 and an additional 60,000 self‐employed health volunteers, agriculture and livestock extension agents and part‐time teachers. It has several programmes that on the one hand have established the expertise on which the project draws: micro‐finance, targeting the extremely poor, empowering adolescents. And on the other hand, are the programmes which provide services to the project: Training Division, Research and Development which provides independent research. BRAC staff work from the regional, Upazila and union office which is also the working area of BRAC 57
other programme. As a result BRAC WASH can liaise with the staff of other programmes and also use the platform of BRAC core or major programmes such as Health, Micro‐finance and Education. In addition professionals of other departments such as the Development Project and local/regional offices have skills in water implementation and community/committee mobilization that are needed for this programme. Thus, within BRAC, it will be important that formal arrangements are made and implemented to ensure the skills and support of these other departments is used within this programme.
Table 11 Some indicators for collaboration within BRAC •
•
•
•
•
•
•
7.3. •
BRAC Training Division gives training to WASH staff (more than 3000 staff were in WASH I) and village water committee members Independent research in project is done by BRAC monitoring and Evaluation Division Independent monitoring and internal audit Office space and facilities, Union, sub‐
district, regional, Dhaka Procurement and transport from BRAC Human Resource Department support for finance and accounts department At community level: o BRAC Health volunteers disseminate WASH messages, help with monitoring o BRAC micro‐credit groups deliver WASH messages to community •
•
•
•
WASH contents put in BRAC primary schools Introduces BRAC to at scale work in a new sector (WASH) Contributes to BRAC adolescent programme through school menstrual hygiene program Helps capacitate health volunteers BRAC benefits from WASH collaboration with local government institutions Collaboration with IRC and partners Knowledge development and Innovation The BRAC WASH team will face many challenges during the implementation of the WASH II programme. Some of the challenges will be very context specific. Others might be challenges that have not been dealt with adequately in the WASH sector, for instance: low‐cost sanitation options for areas with high groundwater tables or areas that are flood‐prone; the safe and final disposal of human waste, etc. Secondly, the BRAC WASH II programme will bring out lessons that are valuable for the entire WASH Sector. 58
To monitor progress, capture and disseminate lessons learned‐‐ and respond to challenges‐‐ a technical support and innovation component has been added to the programme. The technical support programme will be implemented by IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and will consist of the following components: ‐ Setting up participatory assessment and learning component ‐ Demand‐led technical support component ‐ Technical support on basis of the outcomes monitoring system ‐ Action research component ‐ Documentation and dissemination component ‐ Innovation component The innovation component will consist of four to five action research programmes that will be tendered, together with BRAC, in International Water Sector and are therefore described separately in section 5.4. Participatory assessment and learning There is an international consensus that assessing progress requires the participation of the end users, communities and institutions at the local level, and that it should be articulated with planning for action and behavioural changes at that level. However, an important drawback of these types of assessment and monitoring systems is the compilation, synthesis, and comparison of data both over time and geographically. For that purpose, IRC has developed the Qualitative Information Systems (QIS) methodology that combines participatory data collection and quantification and systemization of data. The methodology has been tested in a large number of countries such as Vietnam, India, Nepal, Indonesia, etc. IRC will develop the tailor‐made QIS monitoring system in close collaboration with BRAC and will train senior field staff in the use of the data collection tools. A participatory data analysis workshop will be organized annually. The purpose of the workshop is to identify successes and challenges and formulate adaptive management measures. The capacity of BRAC staff and BRAC researchers in participatory monitoring and data analysis will be further strengthened through on the job‐training. The outcomes of the participatory monitoring exercises will be used to: •
•
•
Monitor process and impacts at community level based on the perceptions of community themselves. These will feed into the overall monitoring system Identify groups within the communities that are at risk of being left behind and need urgent attention. Test and adapt different approaches for challenges identified beforehand. Technical support on basis of the outcomes monitoring system The BRAC WASH programme will face a number of very specific challenges such as the redesign of aspects of the hygiene promotion campaign, the design of promotion material, specific sanitation technologies, sustainability including O&M of community‐managed water supply systems, and so on. For this purpose, resources have been allocated for short two‐week support missions. The ToRs for these support missions will be drafted jointly by BRAC and IRC; and, experts will be identified on the 59
basis of mutual consensus. If needed, external experts will be hired by IRC in case in‐house capacity is not available on specific topics. Other options that will be included are: • Guided study for BRAC staff to other organizations within Bangladesh and in Asia that is involved in community managed water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. • Short expert training workshops for key project staff, high level professional and government officials, as requested by BRAC. In addition, to provide direct inputs to staff, IRC will organize and support internationally recognized experts such as the Technical University Delft and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to provide technical support. This may include short expert training workshops for high level professional and government officials, as requested by BRAC. All support missions will be carried out jointly by IRC and key BRAC staff to ensure the BRAC’s capacity is further strengthened. A total of 11 support missions have been planned for a period of 4 years. Action research on identified key issues IRC will undertake action research on 4 key issues that have been identified in the evaluation of the BRAC WASH I programme or that have been identified as key issues in the WASH sector as a whole. ‐ The safe and final disposal of human waste ‐ Hygiene promotion for men/women ‐ The efficiency of behavioural change programmes ‐ Infant stool management Note that as the action research is meant to benefit the WASH II programme; there may therefore be some changes in these topics, in consultation with BRAC, in response to the challenges and opportunities arising as WASH II progresses. All action research activities will be designed and implemented jointly by IRC staff and key staff of the BRAC WASH programme and the Research and Evaluation department. The safe and final disposal of human waste The final evaluation of BRAC WASH I identified the emptying of the pits and the safe and final disposal of the sludge as one of the key challenges for the near future. In the WASH sector there have been only a few documented success stories related to closing the rural sanitation loop at scale‐
‐ and there are considerable knowledge gaps. The envisaged action research will focus primarily on answering the following questions. 1. How can profitable and safe pit/tank emptying be organised? Onsite sanitation facilities – whether simple direct pit latrines, offset latrines, composting latrines, septic tanks and others – will require emptying from time to time as human excreta accumulates overtime. Therefore emptying and disposal systems and services need to be in place especially in densely populated areas within Bangladesh. 2. How can value be added to the sanitation delivery chain by safe and hygienic utilisation of human excreta through different reuse options? Faecal sludge should be recognised as a resource. Ample opportunities lie in capturing and reusing embodied resources; and, farmers and local entrepreneurs should be encouraged to recognise the value of human excreta for 60
agriculture and aquaculture. In many countries, farmers apply sludge to farmland to replace or complement the use of chemical fertilisers. It can also be used as a soil conditioner due to its high organic content. In Bangladesh and other Asian countries, anaerobic digestion and capture of biogas is employed to reduce demand for non‐renewable energy sources. Learning from these practices, while adding the support needed to make them safe and more widely acceptable, will provide opportunities to enhance the sustainability of sanitation. This can be achieved by increasing rebate opportunities for users, but also by creating potential synergies with private sector actors operating in the sanitation chain. 3. How can the safe and final disposal of human waste be organised and managed so that it will not negatively impact the environment and public health? Once faecal sludge has been removed from the pit, it needs to be transported and disposed of carefully. Indiscriminate or uncontrolled dumping of untreated human waste at the shortest possible distance from the collection site is common to save time and cost or because of a lack of designated disposal and treatment sites. For example dumping takes place within the family compound, into nearby lanes, surface drains, surface waters or open land where it threatens the health of people. The poor have the highest health risks because they provide manual pit emptying services, and because their homes are often closest to the actual dumping grounds. The IRC team will be strengthened by a re‐use expert. Gender and hygiene promotion for men BRAC has taken gender issues seriously in it WASH programme. It advocates hygiene promotion for all: women, children and men have to be included in hygiene promotion activities. One manifestation of this has been the education programme mounted by BRAC through religious institutions and specifically targeting men. Another aspect has been the insistence by BRAC that 6 of the 11 members of the village WASH committee be women and a focus on women in micro‐credit. However, there are challenges. For example, a small study from the Research and Evaluation Division has indicated that the women in the village committees often lack skills to participate effectively and, in any case, are not sufficiently listened to by the men in the committees. This small action research component will focus on more effective involvement of men in hygiene promotion and education activities and women in local planning/management and will provide the following: • By show‐casing the importance of involving men in hygiene promotion and ensuring the skills/opportunity for women to participate effectively in planning and management for the adoption and acceptance of hygiene promotion messages by both men and women, and therefore for the success of hygiene promotion activities • Guidelines will be developed that can be used to support organisations that provide hygiene promotion services. • Increased acceptance of the involvement of men in hygiene promotion and empowering women for local leadership as a benefit for the entire community The efficiency/effectiveness of behavioural change programmes IRC has been implementing the WASH Cost programme for the last four years. WASH Cost ‘s emphasis on understanding full life cycle costs against levels of water, sanitation and hygiene 61
services provides a valuable opportunity to gather hygiene cost effectiveness findings from a range of countries using a consistent approach, and contribute to a broad and credible evidence base for advocacy and strengthening best practice. A small action research component on the effectiveness and efficiency of behavioural change has been included in the BRAC WASH II programme has been included to further strengthen and broaden this evidence basis. The methodology for the action research will be developed within IRC own framework and with its own resources. Adaptation of data collection tools, monitoring of data collection, and joint analysis will be supported through the IRC activities within the BRAC WASH II programme. Infant and toddler stool management World‐wide, children under five years are the largest group to fall ill and die from faecal‐oral diseases. A major risk time is at birth and weaning age, when infants also begin to crawl, and put the things they pick up in their mouths. Risks at birth can be reduced by washing hands with soap by midwives, new mothers and other care givers at all risky occasions that faecal‐oral infections are transmitted. Research of stools of infants has shown that the stools of infants that crawl have the high loads of pathogens compared to infants in other stages of development. Risks of infants at the weaning and crawling age can be reduced by safe management of the infant faecal‐oral disease transmission chain: safe infant weaning food and food handling, and proper infant stool management. The improved management of birthing and faeces of young toddlers is a key to reducing faecal‐oral diseases. IRC work in Indonesia investigated the management of infant/toddler faeces in more than 2,500 villages. Involvement of maternal and child health personnel together with their groups and volunteers in communities, including local midwives may be key inputs. This research will investigate how, through these groups, the management of infants’ faecal‐oral disease can be improved and provide insights for the BRAC WASH program and programmes in other settings.
Documentation and dissemination, learning and sharing The BRAC WASH II programme will bring out many valuable lessons on the implementation of large‐
scale implementation of WASH programmes. Documentation and efficient of these lessons will support the internal capacity development of the BRAC WASH team, and the WASH sector as a whole. IRC has a developed a wide range of tools and methodologies to support documentation and dissemination. For instance: ‐ Internal and regional workshop will be organized to provide a platform for practitioners to share good practices and discuss solutions for common challenges. ‐ A video documentary will be produced on the BRAC WASH II programme. ‐ Writing workshops will be organized to support field level staff to document their experiences. ‐ Support will be provided to share paper and other outputs through the IRC and BRAC website and other social media. 62
8... Programme Management 8.1. Management Structure Within WASH programme, the Programme Management Unit (PMU) will be responsible and accountable for overall programme operations and coordination and will directly report to the Director, WASH. The Director will provide overall policy guidelines and supervision to support implementation of the programme. The PMU will have a Programme Head who will be supported by three Programme Managers and a programme operations management team comprising of Senior Regional Managers. Programme Managers will be responsible for programme operations in the field of three different components of WASH: (a) hard‐to‐reach areas; (b) continuation of 150 Upazilas from WASH I; and (c) innovation components of the WASH programme. In addition, the PMU will be supported by an internal technical support team comprised of experts in the field of MIS, Monitoring and Quality Control, Technologies, Training, and School Sanitation and Hygiene Education. The programme will also hire external technical experts as and when necessary to identify appropriate technological options for water and sanitation from recognised national and international institutions in the sector. The programme will be implemented and managed through BRAC’s extensive network of offices at the district and Upazila level. At the district level, the programme will be managed and implemented by the Regional/District Managers, based at the Region/district level, who will be supported by WASH Upazila Managers, Regional Account Managers, and Sub‐Assistant Engineers, supervised by the Senior Regional Managers. 8.2. Structure at the Upazila and Union Level The Upazila Managers will be based at the Upazila level and will be supported by Programme Organisers, Programme Assistants and an Accounts Officer. Programme Assistants, who will be supervised and monitored by the Programme Organisers, will implement the village and household level activities. Accounts Officers will keep track of accounts for all levels of programme activity. BRAC will involve its existing female health volunteers (Shasthya Shebika) network to strengthen the sanitation and hygiene promotional activities and follow up of the hardware facilities to ensure that those are used hygienically and well maintained in addition to the designated WASH staff. However, this network will be linked with Village WASH Committees. The following departments will support the WASH programme in the management of the programme: • Human Resources Department (HRD): In collaboration with the concerned programmes and departments, the HRD hires required staff and supervises their professional development in accordance with Human Resource Policies and Procedures (HRPP). • Finance and Accounts Department: This fully independent department is responsible for all financial transaction and accounting. BRAC Finance & Accounts Division has won the World 63
•
•
•
•
•
9... Bank 2004 CGAP Financial Transparency Award and subsequent national and regional awards. Procurement Department: Procurement department is responsible for procuring all goods and services within BRAC in accordance with BRAC Procurement Policy. Internal Audit Department. The Internal Audit Department undertakes routine internal audit, investigation, and verifies physical inventories to maintain organisational transparency and accountability. Monitoring Department: The Monitoring Department undertakes routine monitoring, based on indicators developed in collaboration with WASH programme. Advocacy Unit: The unit organizes advocacy workshops at different levels and debate competitions in secondary schools in collaboration with WASH programme. Research and Evaluation Division: The Research and Evaluation Division (RED), an independent department of BRAC, provides unbiased reports, the findings of the division’s research help achieve programme objectives by elucidating what needs to be improved or modified. RED undertakes studies on different aspects of WASH. Financial Management and Reporting BRAC has taken great effort to ensure organizational and financial transparency and integrity within the organization and all programmes implemented by BRAC. BRAC is a value driven organization. It strongly believes that values are the pillars on which an organization is based and describe what the organization stands for. Values establish moral and ethical practices, which serve to guide all organizational activities. The organizational principles, standards and qualities are also reflected through its practicing values. BRAC has identified a number of organizational values and it places equal importance on all the values. The followings are the BRAC Values which are known as Code of Ethics of BRAC: 1. Innovation This means that BRAC should be pioneering, creative and enterprising in its approaches to solving poverty, think the unthinkable, be courageous in leadership and be at the forefront of advocacy for what works in poverty alleviation. 2. Integrity This is about honesty/confidence, which includes transparency & accountability ‐ it is about doing the right thing in the right place at the right time. 3. Inclusiveness Working with and for people, those we support and those that partner with us, listening and understanding, empathy, insight, respect for people and the environment. 4. Effectiveness This requires understanding, resourcefulness, adaptability, courage and measurement and efficiency. 9.1. Accounting and Financial Reporting 64
BRAC’s Finance and Accounts Department (FAD) will have the sole responsibility for the financial management and accounting of programme funds. The programme has allocated funds to cover the salaries of accountants at all area offices however these accountants will report to the FAD. The director of FAD reports directly to BRAC’s Executive Director. Hence, there are line responsibilities between BRAC WASH staff and the financial staff – this organisational structure enhances transparency and accountability. A comprehensive accounting manual guides the accounts personnel in preparing financial statements and reports following internationally acceptable accounting standards to run financial activities in a systematic and efficient way. Contents of the accounting manuals include significant accounting policies regarding revenue recognition, preparation of financial statements and combination, donor grants accounting, depreciation, investment in related undertakings in addition to chart of accounts and maintenance of books and records. Head Office
BRAC has many projects through which it performs all its programme activities. Head Office (HO) performs the central treasury function, deals with programme related transactions at HO, compiles programme accounts, prepares budgets, and conducts financial monitoring and supervisory activities. Regional Offices
Field offices maintain separate set of books of account for each programme under a well designed computerized accounting system and system generates periodical financial reports and statements. HO gets these reports and statements through concerned Regional Office. Reporting
This report is prepared at the end of each quarter for each programme as per the donor's requirement. It contains actual expenditure for one quarter, budget for that quarter and an analysis of budget variance. The quarterly report will include: • Budget • Actual • Variance • Reason for Variance The Annual Accounts is audited by the international auditor Ernst & Young, Chartered Accountants, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and S. F. Ahmed & Co., Chartered Accountants, Dhaka, Bangladesh (local partner). The audited Annual Accounts are published by 30th March of the following financial year. The audited Annual Accounts are available in the Annual Report of BRAC as well as on the website. To ensure proper financial management, all programmes are audited by the external auditors. Audit reports for all projects, along with FD‐4 certified by the Auditors, are submitted to the NGO Affairs Bureau, Prime Minister's Office. A total of 31 external auditing missions, from 6 audit firms, reported on different BRAC projects. BRAC also received ‘Best Presented Accounts and Corporate Government Disclosures Awards 2008’ from the South Asian Federation of Accountants, as well as top position in 65
the NGO sector in the National Awards for Best Published Accountants and Reports 2008 and 2009 from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh. 9.2. Internal Audits At the beginning of the year internal auditors prepare an audit programme. According to the audit programme, internal auditors visit each branch office twice in a year. They check all vouchers in a branch office. After completion of the audit, auditors prepare an audit report and submit it to the Director of Administration and Risk Management. Along with the audit report they submit a forwarding letter to enable the programme to reply to the issues raised in the audit report. Internal auditors also submit copy of the audit report to Upazila Manager, Regional Manager and Programme Head. If there are major findings, a meeting is organized in head office to discuss the findings in the audit report. Biannually the audit reports of every programme are reviewed by an independent Audit Committee consisting of members from BRAC’s Governing Body. In head office, the internal audit department conducts audit on all head office transactions. The audit is done on a continuous basis and all transactions are audited within three working days after any transaction. The internal auditors also audit the procurement procedures and will verify existing market prices. After completion of the audit work, auditors prepare an audit report and submit it to Directors of Administration and Risk Management and Finance & Accounts. 9.3. Procurement Procurements will be carried out as specified in BRAC procurement guidelines. The requisition of the procurement of material originates from the programme and after approval by the Finance and Accounts Department; the requisition is transferred to the Procurement Department. A committee is formed to process any major procurement. At least three quotations are obtained from well‐
reputed suppliers and a selection is made on the basis of best quality and lowest price. Subsequently, a comparative statement of the quotations is prepared and forwarded to the respective authorities with the recommendation for selection. After approval, the order is given to the selected supplier. After satisfactory delivery of the materials, the payment is made by the Finance and Accounts Department by cheque. BRAC Internal Audit Department carries out an annual audit of all procurements. 9.4. Asset and Inventory Management Inventory Management: BRAC maintains an inventory system for all types of stock so that stock records always reflect the physical movement of stocks and their current balance. Different staff of line management counts some items by rotation in every month and tally with stock register and it is mandatory for line management to do a physical inventory at least twice in a year, i.e. at the end of June and December through forming a committee of three members in a prescribed format. All BRAC offices maintain inventory files for physical inventory and their adjustments and internal and external auditors check this file. Internal auditors check inventory files and stock movements during the branch audit and count some items physically to confirm the system as well as the actual position. 66
External auditors also check the record and count some items physically to confirm the control if they feel it is so required. Asset Management: BRAC maintains project wise fixed assets register for its projects and controls physical existence through identification number on the assets. From asset identification number, the project name, group of asset, asset name and specific asset number is easily identifiable, while on the other hand from asset register respective assets’ year of purchase, cost, and accumulated depreciation and written down value are easily traceable. As there is a well designed and documented asset management system, which is transparent to all, there is no scope to show the old one as newly procured asset. BRAC deals with assets at the end of a particular project period according to the contract. If there is a provision in the contract to use the asset in same type of project, BRAC uses it in same type of project through transfer entry. However, if there is a provision to return the same to the Donor, BRAC ensures that the assets are returned to the donor. 9.5. Inventory and Internal Financial Control Monitoring There is a section in BRAC named Inventory and Internal Financial Control Monitoring Section, in addition to internal control monitoring activities it also monitors the stock management system on test basis, mainly they checks the system where there is a bulk of materials in stock like BRAC Central Store and other areas periodically. They report to management with their suggestions if they find any weakness in the system. 9.6. Human Resources Department Human Resources Policies and Procedures (HRPP) of BRAC guarantee fair and equitable process of staff recruitment and development for the programme. The HRPP allows the provision that at the beginning of every year the Programme Coordinator will determine the number of staff he/she will need during the course of the year. The Director Human Resources Department (HRD) will circulate the job listing in the local daily newspapers or through some other medium. An interview board will be formed by the executive director. This board will include the programme manager and staff from the HRD department. The final selection of an employee will be approved by the HRD. Though the majority of the BRAC’s employees are female, women are still in a minority in the middle and higher management positions in BRAC. BRAC has been actively trying to change this. For instance, the latest HRD manual states that in case of equal qualifications preference will be given to a woman. However, BRAC is facing a lot of competition from other organisations that are paying higher salaries. Despite this competition, the programme will pro‐actively try to increase the percentage of women in middle and higher management positions within the programme. As BRAC believes that everybody has the right to work with dignity and in a sexual harassment free environment, a Sexual Harassment Elimination policy has been formulated. The programme will fully and pro‐actively adhere to this policy. 67
9.7. BRAC Ombudsperson BRAC’s first ombudsperson was appointed on September 1, 2004. BRAC has established the Office of the Ombudsperson with comprehensive mandate to investigate any incident of maladministration and misuse of power within BRAC. This includes grievances such as corruption, abuse of power or discretion, negligence, oppression, nepotism, arbitrariness, unfairness and discrimination especially gender based discrimination. 9.8. External Audits At the end of the inception period of six months, an external system audit will be carried out on the basis of a ToR jointly formulated by BRAC and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN). Yearly audits will be conducted by an external auditor assigned by the EKN in consultation with BRAC. In addition, EKN can request additional audits, including surprise/spot audits if deemed necessary, during the programme/project period. Audits may include procurement audits, technical audits and also value‐for‐money audits. 9.9. Internal Quality Control The Research and Evaluation Division (RED) was established in 1975 to provide support to programmes and project by BRAC to learn from its mistakes. In collaboration with the programme staff and the monitoring department, action research topics will be identified and carried out by RED. When deemed necessary acclaimed external experts will be attracted to carry out these actioin researches. The conclusions of the action researches will be shared through dialogues with the programme staff and modifications to the programme will be jointly formulated. RED has been involved in research and monitoring activities in BRAC WASH I and has built up its profile in the WASH sector. During the BRAC WASH II, RED will be supported by external, local and international experts to further build its capacity. 9.10. WASH Monitoring and Quality Control Unit BRAC‐WASH Programme has launched a new unit for Monitoring and Quality Control (M&QC) in order to ensure greater transparency and accountability of overall field management in WASH I. This Unit acts as an integral part of WASH field operation management and thereby WASH regions have been divided among the Monitoring and Quality Control Officers. The M&QC unit has been made functional with 3 Regional Managers and 20 M&QC Officers. This M&QC Unit undertakes monitoring of on‐going activities as a continuous process of data collection and analysis. It also conducts routine monitoring of selected indicators to determine whether key activities are being carried out as planned with integrity. The Unit disseminates monitoring findings every month in the head office level management and in the Quarterly Regional 68
Managers’ meeting. The M&QC Unit prepares the monthly monitoring and quality control reports and reports to the Programme Head, WASH. The Unit accomplishes all activities under the direct supervision of the Programme Head, WASH and coordinates with the Senior Regional Managers of WASH. The Programme Head briefs the Director WASH on the findings of the M&QC and they jointly take actions when required. In WASH II, the M&QC team will also continue its work and strengthen its capacity in order to ensure transparency and accountability, and quality of services through undertaking corrective measures. 9.11. Monitoring Department The BRAC Monitoring Department was established in the early 1980s and functions as a fully independent department in BRAC. The role of the monitoring department is to provide feedback through a group of professional experts to managers at different levels, which assists them in taking appropriate corrective actions. Monitoring indicators will be identified jointly on the basis of the programme document by the Monitoring Department and the programme staff. Within the proposed programme specific attention will be paid to the monitoring of sustainability and the services delivered to the hardcore poor and other vulnerable groups. 9.12. Governance and Transparency Local governance for improved WASH services requires transformation at local level with the active support of institutions and policy makers at regional/national level. This includes the establishment of an enabling and supportive framework with resources and responsibilities developed for the local government so that it has the authority and the capacity to provide sustainable services. With stakeholder participation at local level and support from the broader water and sanitation sector, decentralised WASH services stand a better chance of success. The WASH programme will address governance issues to ensure good governance in every sphere of the programme implementation. It will undertake various measures to ensure good governance in the programme such as determining clearly spelt‐out roles and responsibilities of every staff and a transparent supervisory mechanism. It will focus on the governance issue through decentralisation of authority to the district/regional/Upazila level management to ensure transparency and accountability. It will cover financial and cost recovery, sanitation, hygiene and school sanitation and hygiene education, transparency, support to community institutions, multiple use services (that address livelihoods as well as household use), advocacy and communication, gender mainstreaming, monitoring and evaluation and capacity development. Transparency for reducing corruption, especially in the water and sanitation sector, is now a global concern. BRAC‐WASH will ensure more transparency through sharing of information to donors, stakeholders and beneficiaries/programme participants. It is revealed that corruption can occur in payment, resource allocation, distribution to the programme participants/beneficiaries, selection of programme participants/beneficiaries, quality of water‐sanitation materials, bribing to reduce bills 69
and to get contract for work, bias of the local authority in utilizing available resource and misuse of resource due to unplanned activities. BRAC will plan to share information on eligibility and conditions for potential beneficiaries’ amounts of allocated grants and loans on website and brochure which will be accessible of all required information, posters for VWC and on union office. Information on programme activities will also be made available to beneficiaries through information boards placed at strategic locations. 10... Review and Evaluation The objective of monitoring and evaluation is to ascertain the extent and effectiveness of the programme. Within the framework of the programme, monitoring and evaluation involves three broad steps: a baseline survey, ongoing internal monitoring of programme activities, and external monitoring and evaluation. Internal Review
After the first and third year of the programme, an internal review will be carried out jointly by the monitoring department, the RED, and selected external consultants to capture lessons learned and review implementation processes. The Director of the WASH Programme will lead these reviews. External Review and Evaluation
Joint review missions comprised of external and internal experts will twice review the the programme and an external mission will carry out a final evaluation at the end of the programme. First joint review mission. The first joint review will be carried out after 18 (eighteen) months of the programme. The goal of the first review is to review lessons learned during the first year of the programme and on the basis thereof modify and detail the programme design on a budget neutral basis. The objectives of the first review mission are, in consultation with BRAC WASH: • Identify and document lessons learned during the period of the programme with a particular focus on the revisiting of previous WASH activities and the micro‐trials of different WASH approaches. • Review the progress of the programme on the basis of indicators identified in the programme document. The focus of the review will be on the cross‐cutting concerns of gender equity, sustainability, and the reaching of the poor and hardcore poor. • Rephrase the programme and if necessary redesign and detail programme strategies and approaches on a budget neutral basis. • Fine‐tune existing and select new indicators for the second review mission at the end of the third year of the programme. 70
Second joint review mission: The second joint review will be carried out at the end of the third year of the programme. The goal of this mission is to consolidate lessons learned and finalize the programme design for the final stage of the programme. The objectives of the review mission, in consultation with BRAC WASH are as follows: • Identify and document lessons learned during the second phase of the programme with a particular focus on the up‐scaling of approaches and strategies developed during the part of the programme. • Review the progress of the programme on the basis of indicators identified by the first review mission. The focus of the review will be on the cross‐cutting concerns of gender equity, sustainability, and the reaching of the poor and hardcore poor. • On the basis of the progress review, the programme approaches and strategies will be fine‐
tuned or the review mission could advise for an extension of the programme period. Both will be done on a budget neutral basis. • Fine‐tune existing and select new indicators for the final evaluation at the end of the programme. Final evaluation mission: The goals of the final evaluation mission are to assess how effective, efficient and sustainable the programme has achieved its objectives and to formulate recommendations to safe guard the sustainability of WASH services and behavioural changes. The objectives of the evaluation mission are, in consultation with BRAC WASH, as follows: • Identify and document lessons learned during the entire project with a particular focus on sustainability of WASH services and behavioural changes and programme’s effectiveness of reaching the poorest of the poor. • Review the programme and evaluate its effectiveness and efficiency in achieving its objectives. • Formulate recommendations to safe guard the sustainability of WASH services and behavioural changes. 71
11... Partnership with IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre BRAC and IRC during WASH Phase I IRC has been involved in the development and the implementation from the very beginning. During two missions to Bangladesh, IRC has been instrumental in the joint development of the BRAC WASH I programme. Subsequently, during the implementation of the BRAC WASH I programme, IRC provided assistance in the development of the capacity of the senior programme staff and the development of the programme implementation cycles through a two‐week capacity development programme. In these two weeks, BRAC staff – with support from IRC staff – developed the programme cycles for the water, sanitation and hygiene, and school components on the basis of the technical inputs that were provided by IRC. These implementation cycles were used as the basis for a training programme for all field staff. Prior to the programme, IRC facilitated a number of exposure programme for BRAC staff. IRC followed up with a refresher training and a number of field visits to fine tune the implementation cycles. At the end of the BRAC WASH I programme, IRC facilitated the international dissemination workshop in January 2011. This workshop was used to disseminate the achievements of the BRAC WASH I programme and discuss the lessons learnt with a wide range of WASH professionals. It needs to be noted that the workshop did not just present the successes but also shared past and current challenges that were encountered during the implementation. The outputs of the workshop were used to develop the BRAC WASH II programme. It is envisioned that within the framework of the BRAC WASH II, IRC and BRAC will collaborate more intensively. In parallel to the BRAC WASH I programme, IRC, BRAC, WaterAid and WSSCC have organized two learning and sharing workshop for sanitation practitioners http://www.irc.nl/page/53553. These workshops provided rich material on good practices that have been developed and tested in the South Asia region. The workshops provided ample opportunity and time to discuss challenges and mutual learning. The findings of the first workshop were presented in a joint session during the Stockholm Water Week. Background to IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre IRC was established in 1968 by the Dutch government and the World Health Organization as a WHO collaborating centre, under the name International Reference Centre for Community Water Supply. Currently, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre operates as an autonomous, independent not‐for‐profit organization, based in The Hague, The Netherlands. Core business: IRC builds the skills and capacities of people and local organizations so that they can better support men, women and children in obtaining adequate and sustainable water and sanitation services. Our specific expertise is in effective and sustained services with and by the rural and urban poor. Major themes for research and dissemination currently include: •
•
•
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Scaling‐up community management; Environmental sanitation; Local IWRM and multiple uses (MUS) of domestic water; Hygiene promotion; 72
•
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Gender and social equity; Transparency and corruption; Financing and cost recovery and Monitoring and evaluation. Local governance of WASH The regions and countries that IRC works in are: • West Africa and Mena Region (Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Niger, Morocco, Algeria, Tunis Jordan, Egypt) • East Africa (Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania) • Southern Africa (South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana) • South and South East Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam) • Latin America (Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Brazil) The added value of IRC is best expressed through its inclusive approach that puts partnerships and mutual learning at the centre of all its activities. IRC stands for new ways of working between North and South and within the South, building trust based on mutual respect and learning. Through visits, information and staff exchanges, training and consultancies, we help organisations and their staff to increase skills and capacities, and to use what they learn to the greatest effect. The IRC employs a multi‐disciplinary and multi‐cultural task force of some 64 professionals. They work together with a network of partners in (mainly) developing countries. Major themes for research and dissemination currently include scaling‐up community management, environmental sanitation, productive uses of domestic water, hygiene promotion, Integrated Water Resources Management, gender and equity, transparency and corruption, financing and cost recovery, monitoring and evaluation. The joint outputs we and our partners produce on these topics brings us respect from the water and sanitation sector for our innovative approach to advocacy, knowledge sharing and capacity building, publications and joint learning. We belong to, and support influential international networks, including the Gender and Water Alliance (GWA), the Streams of Knowledge global coalition of resource centres and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC). We also work in partnership with UNICEF, to bridge the water and sanitation gap that is closely linked with poverty and inequality. Our programmes are supported by government agencies such as Dutch Ministries, DFID (UK), and GTZ (Germany). Finance. IRC has an ongoing subsidy agreement with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This agreement is renewed every five years, and the current agreement runs from 2007 until 2011. Current external sources of finance through major assignments are BMGF, UNICEF, the European Union, the World Bank/WSP and DFID. IRC is registered at the Chamber of Commerce The Hague (Kamer van Koophandel Haaglanden) with registration number is 41151952 73
12... Assumptions and Risks Table 12 Assumptions and risks Narrative summary Assumptions Socio‐political environment remains favourable for Goal of WASH II: Contribute to the attainment of the MDGs (mainly BRAC; coordination with DPHE/LGD and other key target 10 of goal 7 and beyond) by providing well‐ players in this sector also remains favourable. used and maintained water, sanitation and hygiene services in hard‐to‐reach areas and among under‐
served populations in collaboration with government and other stakeholders while, at the same time, sustaining and expanding the achievements of among the population involved in WASH Objective 1 Provide integrated and sustainable Timely provision of technical services, loans, subsidies. water, sanitation and hygiene services in hard‐ to‐ Appropriate technology available. Effective application building on WASH I. reach areas and underserved population Output 1.1 Individual and shared sanitary latrines Support of and coordination with the national and built and used by 70% of the Upazila population and local governments 50% households in the hard to reach and under‐
served areas Output 1.2 Environment friendly schools for girls and School committees willing to participate in the boys in rural areas. programme Output 1.3 Suitable water points installed in the Water option on community demand and feasibility. underserved and hard‐to‐reach areas. Timely and quality Technical Assistance is provided to the programme. Output 1.4 Good hygiene behaviour practiced by Institutions and other BRAC programme staff can be men, women, children at the individual and mobilized for hygiene promotion in each community. Village WASH Committees are functional and taking community level. lead in hygiene promotion and monitoring Objective 2 : In the 150 Upazilas of WASH I, O&M and use effectively promoted. Mobilization and continue activities to ensure sustainability and financial arrangements operate as planned. expand coverage Output 2.1 Ensure capacity through staff training & Training with follow‐up is provided of sufficient orientation quality. Output 2.2 Sanitation coverage increased to 90% Subsidy from Government. Lessons learned from including at least 50% of the hard core poor through WASH I for designing programme implementation. subsidy for hard core poor Output 2.3 Hygiene promotion and reinforcing Water and water and sanitation interventions are well selected hygienic practices integrated with hygiene interventions Objective 3: To build capacity of the communities BRAC’s experience in implementing programme and networking with local Government and other though building capacity of community. Cooperation stakeholders for the implementation and sustained by the national government, local government and operation and use of facilities installed as well as key stakeholders sustained behavioural change Output 3.1 BRAC has the capacity to efficiently and Capacity assured through collaboration within BRAC effectively implement the programme through and with partners locally community participation Output 3.2 At least 70% of villages has active WASH II Village WASH Committees are functional and taking 74
Narrative summary Assumptions Committees. lead in planning and implementation Output 3.3 Effective participation of women, BRAC experience in working with and for disadvantaged groups and adolescents in the WASH underprivileged group specially with women and children Programme Output 3.4 Effective coordination with and support Effective support provided by the Union Parishad and to Governmental organizations and stakeholders at Upazila Administration. union and Upazila level through mobilization and advocacy Output 3.5 Leadership of role teachers, students, Support and cooperation by different stakeholders religious leaders and other BRAC projects in and BRAC other programme programme implementation. Objective 4 : To contribute to the WASH sector, and Relevant low‐cost technologies exist or can be the Bangladesh WASH sector in particular, by discovered and tested with timely dissemination. carrying out action‐research on long outstanding issues such as low‐cost sanitation technologies for areas with high ground water tables, safe and final disposal of human waste, and so on. Output: 4.0 20 WMO, initially 5, take an active role in WMO are interested and capable of undertaking these organising and thereafter operating and maintaining tasks the drinking water supply and in the regular cleaning of latrines and the re‐use of its content. Output 4.1. BRAC WASH has a Research and Learning Component works efficiently, keeping in line with component which improves the effectiveness of the project development and supporting it. WASH project. Output 4.2 Appropriate and sustainable sanitation Appropriate and low cost technologies for sanitation and water technology developed for hard to reach in the hard‐to‐reach areas developed areas. Output 4.3 Disseminated lessons learned and shared Lessons learned and technologies will be relevant for experiences with other stakeholders other stakeholders. 75
Risk Analysis A number of possible risks have been identified and graded as “High”, “Medium” and “Low” depending on their possible impact on the Sub‐Component implementation. Table 13 Risk analysis Intensity Low Internal Risks Medium High Risks Actions to be taken to manage the Risk That a strong internal learning mechanism is established in the WASH II areas and a gradual scaling‐up of implementation is undertaken X The programme follows the learning mechanism structured in the programme design and does not only drive for pre‐set targets Commitment and cooperation of local government is weak, with demands for construction‐focused programme. X Strong orientation and negotiation at beginning of programme with local government. Monitoring, with action taken in weaker LGI areas. Appropriate technologies in hard‐to‐reach X and underserved areas are not sufficiently low‐cost for the community. Technical Assistance component identifies low‐cost solutions. Management processes of piped water supply are too difficult or are not taken up by communities. X The required Technical Assistance component follows the piped water schemes carefully. That village WASH Committees do not function and are not operating actively as was expected during the planning stage. X Training of BRAC staff on total village approach and adequate. Agreed definition of active committee and indicators. Monitoring by independent monitoring group. Sufficient time and manpower available to activate and re‐form committees as needed. Cultural habits which are barriers to change the traditional or bad hygiene practices Refine hygiene promotion strategy, with promotional activities for differentiated according to socio‐
cultural and geographical condition. External Risk Major changes in the country's socio‐ political environment which may unfavourable for BRAC to carry out its ongoing works X BRAC continues with its present practice of information dissemination and cooperation with the government and other development partners That the ADP block grant for sanitation to X Advocacy is done at the community, 76
Intensity Low Medium High Risks Actions to be taken to manage the Risk Union and Upazilas are supported by the programme to identify the hardcore poor the local government institutions is not well targeted to the ultra poor and coordinated with the programme activities That all the stakeholders at national and local levels, as well as BRAC staff from other Divisions, are supportive and cooperate in the programme activities. X Disseminate programme activities and findings through workshops. Arrange for government letters stimulating cooperation to LGI personnel. Orientation within BRAC and its field office. Technical Assistance inputs sufficiently practical or timely. X Research and Learning Committee (with members from BRAC, the Embassy and IRC) plan and oversee the Technical Assistance component. Natural disasters and climate change for X sustainable WASH programme BRAC Disaster and Climate Change Programme which is also headed by the same Director can take measures with technical and other support as required. Water scarcity and lowering of water tables Innovation of Appropriate technologies through the TA Action Research and involvement of WMOs. Gender interventions to minimize the problems in water collection from more distance places where provision of safe water is not possible locally. are not Natural Risks X Programme Operational Cycle Particulars Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 1st Inception (new 20 Upazilas) Participatory baseline survey/household census Rapport building with local key stakeholders Establishing Village WASH Committee (new 20 Upazilas) Consultation, transect walk and social mapping Selection of members of WASH committee Formation of Village WASH Committee (VWC) Orientation of VWC members 77
2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd 1st 2nd Village level participatory planning Leadership training for VWC members Selection of poor families (loan support)
Selection of hard-core poor families (grant support)
Monitoring hygiene at household level Hygiene Education and Promotion Observance of Sanitation Month Social mobilisation local key stakeholders in 20 Upazilas Hygiene promotion for men, women and adolescents Hygiene education for men, women and adolescents Producing BCC materials (Leaflet, poster, flip chart, etc.) Popular theatre (stage 3 shows in each union) in 20 Upazilas Training of religious leaders to deliver WASH messages among the respected community in 20 Upazilas Upazila WATSAN Committee meeting Union WATSAN Committee meeting Advocacy workshop in 20 Upazilas Advocacy workshop in 175 Unions Women’s convention(Upazila level) in 20 Upazilas Adolescent forum (Union level) in 20 Upazilas Deliver WASH messages in the mosque in 20 Upazilas Water Planning Collection of community contribution Construction of deep tube well Water Quality monitoring Support to community O&M Year 1 Particulars 1st Sanitation Set up Rural Sanitation Centre (RSC) in 175 unions of 20 Upazilas through loans Training RSC entrepreneurs in 20 Upazilas Loan support to poor families for latrine installation Grants to hardcore‐poor families for latrine installation Converting unhygienic latrines into hygienic Monitoring of emptying pits School Sanitation & Hygiene Education Development of BCC materials (leaflet, poster, hygiene chart, video, etc.) Orientation of school management committee (secondary schools) Orientation of student brigade with teachers Installation of separate twin latrines for girls student in Year 2 2nd 1st Year 3 2nd 1st Year 4 2nd 1st Year 5 2nd 1st 2nd 78
secondary schools Capacity Building Introduce Geographical Information System (GIS) Orientation of elected representatives of Union Parishad in 170 Upazilas Basic training for new WASH field staff Exposure/study visit Experience sharing workshops at national level Internal review Technical support from IRC/Netherlands 79
ANNEX 1: Logical Framework Analysis Goal of WASH II: Contribute to the attainment of the MDGs (mainly target 10 of goal 7 and beyond) by providing well‐used and maintained water, sanitation and hygiene services in hard‐to‐reach areas and among under‐served populations in collaboration with government and other stakeholders while, at the same time, sustaining and expanding the achievements of among the population involved in WASH 1. Population and project areas WASH 2 operates in 20 new Upazilas to ensure improved access to and use of sanitary toilets for 2 million (approximately).people, hygiene promotion with 4.2 million (apprx.) People and improved water services and their use for 0.5 million (approximately) people. For the 150 original Upazilas from WASH 1: In the WASH 2 programme, the sanitation coverage will increase from about 83% to 90% within 4 years. Activities will be undertaken to sustain and ensure continued use of sanitation facilities and water services built in WASH 1 (2006‐2011) and hygiene promotion in communities and schools will continue. Narrative Summary Objectively Verifiable Indicator Objective 1 •
Provide integrated and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services in hard‐ to‐reach areas and •
underserved population •
70% of household in the 20 new Upazilas having access to and use an Individual or shared ( by 2 HH only) hygienic latrine latrines 50% of the households in the hard to reach areas and underserved areas use sanitary latrines 70% (Should be higher) of the households with latrines constructed under the BRAC I project continue to have clean toilets which they maintain Quantity Means of verification Risk 70% 50% 70% Final Programme Evaluation Report Review Report Natural disaster High cost technology for hard to reach areas Local administrative pressure Deficient technology for high water table areas Instability of char areas and migration 80
•
Output 1.1 •
Good hygiene behaviour practiced by men, women, children at the individual and community level. •
•
Activities 1.1.1 Development of hygiene promotion and education trajectory/ strategy throughout whole life‐
time of the programme using multiple channels of communication for different socio‐economic levels and geographic conditions. 1.1.2 Developed and distributed IEC materials in all Upazilas that are designed to reach men, women, adolescent girls and children. 1.1.3 Conduct awareness •
•
and clean themselves Community monitoring tried out in one Upazila and applied in all 170 Upazilas 95% population in WASH II areas have knowledge of safe hygiene practices and 70% apply these practices effectively At least 50% poor and hardcore poor in 20 Upazilas have and use sanitary and clean latrine, safe water sources and maintain hygienic behaviour. Increased no of people follows hygienic practices. Hygiene promotion strategy developed by BRAC and vetted by Research and Learning Committee. Hygiene resource person or consultant 95% population 70% population 50% poor and hardcore poor MIS Report Progress Report Monitoring Report Research Report on handwashing and toilet use behaviours based on research observations of selected households Adequate time from participants, Environmental sustainability, Communication strategies not sufficiently intensive or effective Availability of water for hygiene practice Hygiene Promotion Guideline Committee report •
Materials developed for effective hygiene education and promotion, printed and distributed 20 Upazilas Progress Report, Monitoring Report •
Number of communities that 100% MIS Report 81
raising session for different target audiences on WASH issues •
1.1.4 Adolescent girl, boys •
orientation (24 per union/pourasava) •
1.1.5 Intensive hygiene •
promotion results in improve hygienic practices which are measured accurately (although not always for large samples) •
•
1.1.6 .Conduct hygiene •
education sessions in primary, secondary and NGO schools •
have followed entire trajectory of intensive hygiene promotion activities (such as through meetings, home visits, schools, religious institutions, clinics, including participatory activities) organized to reach the 100% of community. No. beneficiaries attended the meeting No of Adolescent boys and Girls’ trained Case study research of their activities after training Research with training is carried out with BRAC staff to develop research protocols for measuring selected targeted behaviours. Research is completed at beginning and 2 to 3 years later to measure behaviour change and linkage to programme inputs At least half of the communities or households maintain water points, cleanliness and continued use of latrines, hand washing with soap at 2 critical times No. of hygiene education sessions conducted No. of school received hygiene households Progress Report, Monitoring Report 4,800 adolescent boys and girls MIS report Case study As required Research and learning committee reports Research reports AS per plan 100% schools MIS Report Progress Report, Monitoring Report 82
•
1.1.7 Formation and Training of •
Student brigade to maintain hygiene practice in secondary •
schools under WASH Programme •
•
1.1.8 Conduct menstrual •
hygiene education session for adolescent girls’ and young women in schools and community •
•
•
education session Targeted monitoring in schools for sustainability, use and cleanliness as well as involvement of all children (rich and poor) No. of school received training No. of School developed action plan and use monitoring tools by the brigade No. of School teachers and student within the programme areas use sanitary latrine , safe water source and maintain good hygiene practices in school Hygienic household practices are promoted in school programmes Menstrual hygiene materials developed and distributed in school and used for community No. of session conducted in school No. of session conducted for school dropout girls’ and young women Use of menstrual hygiene facilities and materials are surveyed in a sample of the schools and community and TBD Survey report 400 schools 400 schools 60% MIS Report Training Report Progress Report, Monitoring Report TBD MIS Report Progress Report, Monitoring Report Survey/research report 83
Output 1.2 Suitable water points installed in the underserved and hard‐to‐
reach areas. programme is adjusted in response to results of the survey • Increased access to safe water 0.5 million supply to 0.5 million people in the people WASH programme areas through new and repairing of existing water sources. • Water sources provided at same level of service 2 years after completion Activities 1.2.1 Identify suitable water •
options and select the requirement together with village WASH Committee and community members 1.2.2 Installation of Tube wells •
in the underserved areas and in the hard to reach areas. 1.2.3 Installation of different •
water options (RWHS, PSF, Deep set pump, Desalinization Plant etc.) where suitable. 1.2.4 Repair existing PSF and •
other water points as required Arsenic tested for Tube wells (TW) And action taken on results for existing and new wells with the coordination of with government or other WatSan Stakeholders for continued testing over time and beyond the project periods No. of Deep TW installed based on the geo‐graphic location with community participation. Other Appropriate technologies/ water points installed in different areas as appropriate No. of existing PSF or other options found in Baseline Programme Review and Evaluation Report Progress Report Water point surveys (including 2 years after installation) Cost effective and sustainable technology does not exist for hard to reach areas. Climate change and disaster Community pressure for tube well solutions 400 deep tube wells VWC Meeting Register Progress Report Research Report Water point surveys 400 deep tube wells MIS Report Progress Report 10 PSFs MIS Report Progress Report TBD MIS Report Progress Report 84
Output 1.3 Individual and •
shared sanitary latrines built and used for 70% of the population and 50% households in the hard‐to‐
•
reach and under‐served areas 1.3.1. Set up Rural Sanitation •
Centres at Union level through loans. •
1.3.2. Provide loans to poor •
households to construct sanitary latrines in their •
households. •
1.3.3. Selection of the hardcore •
poor and provide subsidized latrine to them •
Output 1.4 Environment •
friendly schools for girls and boys in rural areas. •
survey. Coverage with sanitary, continually used latrines increased to attain MDG (68%) coverage. User‐friendly, affordable and durable sanitation technologies piloted and replicated in the hard to reach areas or water‐logged areas. Rural Sanitation Centers established through loans. Local entrepreneurs receive technical training. List of the poor families prepared. poor families receive from BRAC and re‐pay loans Spot audits of financial, social and physical aspects of the project at the community level List of the selected hardcore poor prepared in each Village No. Of the hardcore poor receive subsidized materials for sanitary latrine from WASH while transportation and labour costs are borne by the community. Separate sanitary latrine for girls with menstrual hygiene facilities at a convenient site School management 70% 1,000 Programme Evaluation Report Progress Report Research Survey Report 175 micro enterprises 400 persons MIS report Monitoring Report 6,013 poor households Baseline/Household census Report MIS Report VWC Meeting Register Audit reports Number of poor families increases beyond initial estimates due to external factors 54,373 hardcore poor households Baseline/household census Report MIS Report Village WASH Committee Register Spot audits by BRAC Research report Number of hardcore poor increases beyond initial estimates due to external factors 400 twin latrines MIS report Progress Report Monitoring report 85
•
committee shares the cost of installation, operation and maintenance. Participate in workshop, seminar on School WASH organized by respective department or other stakeholders. Activities 1.4.1 Meeting and Orientation • Teachers and SMC oriented with School Management and mobilized. Committee (SMC). 1.4.2 Separate sanitary Latrine • Toilets and urinals separated for installed for girls in secondary boy’s & girls’ school with menstrual hygiene • Girls’ Schools selected based facilities. on the student/latrine ratio. • Boys and girls both share responsibility on water collection, latrine cleanliness & monitoring. 1.4.3 Capacity building training • No. Student Brigades formed for student brigade and received training on their responsibility in schools and community. 1.4.4 Orientation and advocacy • Approximately each Upazila meetings with (secondary) Education Official and Head school education department Teachers who are educational authorities to gain support for managers and facilities sustaining and good use of the management staff participate in school facilities. orientation or training • Action research on use and maintenance of facilities is fed back to the meetings to be used for problem solving 400 Schools 400 schools In 400 schools MIS report Progress Report Monitoring report 4,000 Student Brigades with teachers 20 meetings in 20 Upazilas MIS and progress report Action research report on use and maintenance of facilities 86
Objective 2 : In the 150 •
Upazilas of WASH I, continue activities to ensure sustainability and expand coverage •
•
Output 2.1 ensure capacity •
through staff training & orientation •
2.1.1 Orientation BRAC staff •
and (BRAC) community health volunteers 2.1.2 Student brigade, teacher, •
SMC orientation in remainder of schools where initial training •
not completed Output 2.2 •
Sanitation coverage increased through subsidy for hard core •
poor 2.2.1 Improved communication •
about selection of poor, hardcore poor and entrepreneurs Output 2.3 Hygiene promotion •
and reinforcing selected hygienic practices Continue promotion of use and maintenance of sanitary latrines and water points among population Continue hygiene promotion Follow‐up schools Small number of staff continue in each Upazila Orientation for all staff Numbers of staff oriented/received refresher training No. of Teachers and Student Brigade Trained in schools Small scale research on equity In cleaning of facilities and activities of student brigades Number of new and newly upgraded latrines Loan/subsidy for poor and hard core poor Spot research on improved public communication on selection of poor, hard core poor and entrepreneurs as recommended by WASH I review mission Observational research of hygiene practices (hand washing, latrine cleanliness 150 Upazilas Progress report Monitoring report 4,239 staff Progress report Monitoring report 4,239 staff Progress Report MIS report 23,460 Student Brigade & teachers MIS report Research study TBD MIS Progress report Research report Appropriate technology not available for difficult areas Progress report Research report Research report, ICDDRB with RED 87
2.3.1 Continuing hygiene •
promotion with pilot investigations and remediation of problems among •
latrines/water points implemented earlier 2.3.2 Trial in one area of •
(1)Community hygiene inspection (community •
monitoring) tried out for sanitation cleanliness and maintenance use of WASH facilities (2) Sanitation in public places (3) Student brigades training for school 2.3.3 Action taken to improve •
situation in schools not up to basic standard •
2.3.4 Arsenic testing of Deep •
tubewells installed by WASH I •
in arsenic affected areas: and collaborate with government for alternative sources where required 2.3.5 Joint celebration special •
and use) Field reports or survey of water seals and cleanliness improved Field reports on continuation of promotion and remediation taken to improve use of water seals and cleanliness/maintenance of latrines and water points Community inspection undertaken Sanitation in public places developed on pilot scale Progress report Field reports of improvements in water seals, cleanliness, and so on. Effective methodology not found to improve problems of broken water seal, use, cleanliness Research report of community monitoring Progress report Inspection report Educators not responsive Community inspection shows water seals put in place, cleanliness Survey of all schools 6 months and 1 year after implementation Number of wells tested Report of follow‐up in sites with high arsenic level 3,867 tube wells MIS (by mobilising Progress report community) Joint celebrations completed Sanitation 88
Progress report days 2.3.6 Completion all schools •
from WASH I •
Activities in all schools completed Sample survey of completed schools studying sustainability and use of facilities Month in 150 Upazilas 4,400 schools Progress report MIS Survey report Objective 3 •
To build capacity of the communities and networking •
with local Government and other stakeholders for the implementation and sustained operation and use of facilities •
installed as well as sustained behavioural change •
•
Output 3.1 •
BRAC has the capacity to efficiently and effectively implement the programme through community Village‐based organizations formed and active WASH staff smoothly implement programme with the assistance of community Capacity maintained for sustained sanitation and hygiene in WASH 1 households 60% of households maintain the required level of all objectives for sanitation, hygiene and water practices/ services Increased involvement of local government through collaborative activities on Celebration of Sanitation month, ADP and BRAC grant mobilization for hard core poor. BRAC WASH staff trained and skilled developed: No. of orientation/training/Workshop organized for member of LGI and VWC, teachers, religious 39,780 VWCs in 150 Upazilas and 4,400 VWCs in 20 Upazilas 60% households Through 1,746 Union and 170 Upazila WATSAN Committees Programme Review and Evaluation Socio‐political environment unfavourable Report Annual field studies of selected areas TBD Training Report Progress report 89
participation •
Activities 3.1.1 Organize one WASH •
Training for Programme staff from Central to field level management. •
•
3.1.2. Developed Trainer team and module to train WASH field level staff •
•
3.1.3 Conduct exposure visits •
on WASH issues Output 3.2 •
At least 70% of villages have active WASH II Committees. •
leaders, students, NGOs, sanitation entrepreneurs No. of workshop/seminar/meetings for sharing and networking organized or participated All WASH Programme staff receive 2‐3 weeks of training on WASH issues All WASH field staff participate in annual 1‐day refreshers and sharing of research results Trainer team developed Module and curriculum developed for training, and tested before conduct of mass training. field level staff received training on WASH Two guided exposure visits for management level staff conducted on sanitation, water technologies, total community sanitation strategies, SHEE and on hygiene promotion measuring behaviour change WASH Committee formed in 100% villages. Members of the WASH TBD A team of 10 trainers 1,000 WASH staff 10 staff Training Report Progress report IRC report Module, Training Report Monitoring Report Assessment of quality of training with results fed back to improve training BRAC HRD Report Progress Report IRC report 44,180 VWCs in 170 Upazilas Progress Report Monitoring Report MIS Report Interest of VWC decreases over time 90
•
Activities 3.2.1 Conduct 100% household Baseline Survey of WASH II Upazilas to initiate committee formation and to identify the needs regarding WASH and socio‐economic condition of the areas, to be used for planning and monitoring purposes. 3.2.2 Formation of Village WASH Committee in each of the villages of all the programme areas through PRA. 3.2.3 Developed Village WASH action plan with WASH Committee •
•
8,800 VWC Committee trained and members in 20 participated in the WASH activities. Upazilas Simple definition of “active WASH committee” is agreed and used in project monitoring TBD Number of hard‐core poor and poor facilities in the WASH area identified. Sanitation coverage of the working areas measured using consistent definitions throughout life of project. Sample field review or survey Baseline Survey report Village WASH Committee Register MIS Report and Progress report •
Village WASH Committee formed. 4,400 VWCs in 20 new Upazilas MIS Report Progress Report •
Village WASH action plans developed and reviewed periodically as required by the WASH Committee Review and Planning Meeting organized once in two months by each WASH Committee. 4,400 VWCs in 20 new Upazilas MIS Report Monitoring Report Village WASH Committee Register 44,180 VWC meetings in 170 Upazilas MIS Report Monitoring Report Village WASH Committee Register All VWC Members receive one day orientation One day refreshers organized for all VWCs key members received leadership training on WASH 48,400 VWC members 8,800 VWC key members MIS report Training Report Progress report 3.2.3 Facilitate bimonthly •
review and planning meeting of WASH Committee in each village. 3.2.4 Organize orientation and •
leadership training for the WASH committee in new 20 •
Upazilas •
91
3.2.5 Develop Community •
Monitoring system on a small scale first for testing and then possible dissemination, in collaboration with IRC •
•
3.2.6 Preparation for •
sustainability of water and sanitation facilities: training and •
O&M fund Output 3.3 Participation of •
women, disadvantaged groups and adolescents in the WASH Programme in new 20 Upazilas •
Activities 3.3.1 Actively support poor •
women to effectively participate in decision making and planning as members of •
WASH Committee. and/or refresher training Community Monitoring Tools developed and tested, including participatory and other tools Monitoring done through community level participants. Follow‐up and supervision mechanism by BRAC other programmes developed and assessed (see activity 2.3.2, linked to this). Training on repair and maintenance organized. Fund used for repair and maintenance for the installed technology. Women’s representation in the WASH Committee (at least 6 out of 11 committee members). 30% of the WASH committee members are from the following groups, poor and hardcore poor group, adolescents and disadvantaged groups. No of Women and adolescent members trained of Village WASH Committees Responsibility shared/distributed equally in Monitoring report sheet Research study carried out on quality and use of community monitoring to improve local programme Progress report. 2 persons/ options (1 male & 1 female) Training report Community Fund register Spot checks and monitoring studies 26,400 women VWC members 14,520 VWC members Monitoring report Research report Programme Evaluation report 4,400 female VWC members MIS Report Progress report Monitoring Report Study and Research report 92
3.3.2 Organize Women •
Conventions in 20 Upzailas •
3.3. 3 Organize adolescent girls’ •
and boys’ Forum in each Programme areas. Output 3.4 •
Effective coordination with and support to Governmental organizations and stakeholders at union and Upazila level •
through mobilization and advocacy Activities 3.4.1 Organized Advocacy •
workshop at union, Upazila and district level. •
3.4.2 Participate in and •
conduct coordination meeting in every six months at Upazila •
level committees. No. of participants attending the convention. Records of issued raised by women regarding water and sanitation that are dealt with or considered in the programme at any level No. of participant attending the forum. BRAC staff participate in and facilitate the Upazila and Union WatSan Committee Meetings Cooperatively organize events on WASH issues (Sanitation Month, Global Hand Washing Day, World Water Day and so on) 3,000 women 20 convention reports MIS Report Progress report Monitoring Report 3,000 women 170 Upazilas and 1,746 Unions MIS Report Progress Report 20 Upazila and 200 Union Advocacy workshops 20 Conventions MIS Report Progress Report MIS Report Progress Report In some Upazilas it may be difficult to re‐activate the committees One Advocacy Workshop each of 20 Upazila and at least one advocacy workshop in each Union for effective liaison with LGI organized. One women’s convention in each Upazila organized 1 in 6 months Reactivate Upazila WatSan Committee One Upazila WatSan Committee Meeting held every six months in each Upazila 93
•
3.4.3 Participate in and •
conduct coordination meeting in every six months at union •
level •
3.4.4. Participate in the •
national forums and meetings organized by the Local •
Government Division and others •
3.4. 5 Mobilize 20% of the •
Government Annual Development Program (ADP) funds to get additional and complementary support from •
Governments for the poor and hardcore poor. 3.4.6 Organize periodical •
meeting to ensure Senior level coordination •
•
Issues discussed and coordinated programme responsibilities on WASH Reactivate Union WatSan Committees One Union WatSan meeting organized every six months Issues related WASH reviewed and planned for coordination Government recognizes BRAC’s WASH initiative BRAC cooperation and partnership requested for other programmes Participate in policy and strategy formulation 20% of ADP Grants are mobilized for proper utilization by Union Parishad for sanitation coverage ADP grants distributed considering BRAC survey report identifying the poor Quarterly Meeting with Directors, Programme Head with Programme Managers, Senior Regional Managers and Regional Managers Bi‐monthly Meeting with Senior Regional Manager and Regional and Upazila Managers Monthly Meeting with regional As required 1,746 union meetings MIS Report Progress Report As required MIS Report Progress Report Meeting Minutes and Report by Local Government Division ADP grants in 1,746 Unions Secondary information from GOB Progress Report 4 times/year 6/year Meeting Minutes MIS 94
•
Activities 3.5.1 Organized capacity training and orientation for • UP elected representative
s of LGI • Upazila officers of Education Department • Teachers and students • Religious leaders • Local Entrepreneurs • BRAC school teachers and Health Volunteers 3.5.2 Capacity building training/orientation of • BRAC School teachers • BRAC Health •
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Manager and Upazila Manager and other key staffs. Sharing Meeting before the end of WASH II with BRAC senior management and other respective departments ( Education, Health, Micro‐
finance) Development of Module, training Materials, Guidebook etc to reach different audiences. No. of training/orientations organized for All LGI representatives in each Upazila Upazila officers of Education Department oriented Teachers and student from all secondary schools At least 1 Religious leaders in each Union All Sanitary Latrine Producers in each Upazila Average of Health volunteers in each Upazila BRAC teachers trained in WASH in schools. Health Volunteers (HVs) continue monitoring on the use of sanitary larine. 12/year 1 meeting 2,210 LGI representatives 170 Upazila 100% secondary schools 200 400 200/Upazila MIS Report Progress Report Teachers Training Materials, Module, Religious Leaders guide book, Technology Guide line and related documents. Research report on quality of training including participatory elements Quality of training not sufficient to achieve project objectives TBD 4,000 HVs Monitoring report sheet Research report Progress report 95
•
Volunteers BRAC VO Members •
Objective 4 : To contribute to •
the WASH sector, and the Bangladesh WASH sector in particular, by carrying out action‐research on long •
outstanding issues such as low‐
cost sanitation technologies for areas with high ground water tables, safe and final disposal •
of human waste, and so on. Output 4.1. •
BRAC WASH has a Research and Learning component which improves the effectiveness of the WASH project. •
Activities 4.1.1 BRAC Research Division •
conducts in‐depth baseline, mid‐line and final sample survey Promotion and selling of sanitary napkin by health volunteer increased. Research undertaken and verified with the assistance of national and international experts User and environment friendly water and sanitation technology developed and replicated Lessons documented and disseminated to contribute in WASH sector Research undertaken, verified and results disseminated in user‐friendly form Selected results are applied resulting in new or improved activities at scale Learning resources and international experts in specific areas train orient or disseminate latest findings to BRAC and other agencies in Bangladesh and abroad, as appropriate with support and oversight of IRC. Coverage, use and sustainability of facilities and hygiene behaviours reported TBD BRAC HRD Report Mid‐term assessment IRC report Progress report TBD BRAC HRD Report Mid‐term assessment IRC report Progress report As per plan Research Division report disseminated in user‐friendly format 96
‐Research does not succeed in finding appropriate technologies ‐Experts are not sufficiently relevant Fund availability for independent assessment purposes. 4.1.2 Research and Learning •
Committee (composed of 2 personnel from the WASH project and 1 from BRAC‐
Research Division, 1 from IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre and one DGIS‐ •
designee) develop and approve the research and learning agenda, meeting at least once annually. •
4.1.3 Research capacity and •
quality are ensured •
•
4.1.4 Pilot experiment with •
WMOs in WASH working areas at mid‐term and final. Research agenda, which is annually revised, focuses on difficult technical, social, economic, management challenges which the project faces Research and learning programme is developed and approved by the Committee Prior BRAC‐WASH approval is required before inputs by non‐
BRAC professionals. Research and Learning Committee to organize mid‐
term review of WASH 2 project in 2014 and final assessments TBD Number and quality of research staff At least 4 or 5 studies or surveys, of quality, will be completed (by WASH project, by RED or by external groups) , with tendering as needed Definitions of key indicators (such as “sanitary latrine”, “active committee”) agreed by RED, WASH, MIS teams and recorded TBD Identify possible WMO and merger of VWC to form a cohesive group in WSH 97
Progress report Research and Learning committee report Periodic report Independent assessment, usually by a third party, of quality and relevance of research Progress report •
4.1.5 Research of high quality •
completed on measuring personal hygiene practices to •
arrive at feasible, replicable and cost‐effective tools for •
estimating personal practices 4.1.6 BRAC uses selected •
research results to implement its programme at‐scale for sustained hygiene, water, sanitation and education Output 4.2 •
Appropriate and sustainable sanitation technology developed for hard to reach areas. •
Activities working areas Key community groups (committees, WMOs, etc) involved in joint planning, implementation Review of current research completed Testing of methods undertaken and measured Results of first round of testing are replicated under typical field conditions and assessed Specific use of monitoring information at project, regional, Upazila levels are recorded and reported to Research and Learning Committee. As required User‐friendly, affordable and durable sanitation and technologies used in the hard to reach areas, water‐logged areas. Appropriate Water technologies in arsenic, saline and hard to reach areas 4.2.1 .Hire consultants and •
researchers to conduct action research for large options appropriate water‐sanitation technologies in the hard to reach and underserved areas. Research findings developed and applied within the first, second and third years of the programme are implemented at scale. Research report Independent assessment of quality of research Research report Monitoring Report Research committee report MIS Report Progress report Monitoring Report Research report TBD Action Research report Progress report 98
4.2.2. Pilot innovative suitable •
technologies as required. •
•
4.2.3 Intensive hygiene •
promotion results in improve hygienic practices which are measured accurately (although not always for large samples) •
•
Output 4.3 Disseminated •
lessons learned and shared experiences with other stakeholders •
Access to sanitation increased through innovative technologies in the difficult areas. Water technologies piloted in arsenic, saline and other difficult areas. Research programme to be overseen by BRAC WASH Research and Learning Committee. Research with training is carried out with BRAC staff to develop research protocols for measuring selected targeted behaviours. Research is completed at beginning and 2 to 3 years later to measure behaviour change and linkage to programme inputs At least half of the communities or households maintain water points, cleanliness and continued use of latrines, hand washing with soap at 2 critical times Number and type of learning and dissemination activities developed, including mass media such as articles, films, photo reports Number Dissemination Progress report Research Report Monitoring Report Not possible to identify suitable technologies for all conditions and locations Research and learning committee reports Research reports 2 workshops Progress Report Mass media Report IRC report 99
Activities 4.3.1 Organize workshops at •
National and international level. •
4.3.2 Joint support and review •
missions conducted by BRAC WASH management and IRC •
International Water and Sanitation Centre 4.3.3 WASH Documentation in •
mass and printed media. Workshops held Number of participants attended in the dissemination Workshop Number Dissemination Workshops held Carried out at least once each year Reports completed and action taken on major agreed recommendations Number and type of learning and dissemination activities developed, including mass media such as articles, films, photo reports 150 participants Progress report Workshop Report 1/year Progress report Review Mission report As per plan of IRC Mass media Report IRC report 100
Annex 2 Performance Report of BRAC WASH Programme I (From May 2006 to April 2011)
Activities Advocacy Meeting at Union, Upazila & District Level Capacity Building of WASH Staff Leadership Training of VWC Training of RSC / Ring ‐slab Provider Training of Health Volunteers (SS) ToT of Religious Leaders Sanitation Support to Hardcore Poor Loan support to poor families Convert unhygienic latrine to sanitary latrine (Changing of water seal) Establishment of Rural Sanitation Center Safe Water Supply Installation of deep tube well (by WASH) Establishment of piped water supply system/ Water Treatment Plant Loan support to construct platform Repairing TW Platform by motivation Arsenic Removal Filter Installation of pond sand filter Hygiene Promotion Target 1,858 session Achievement 1,858 session Remarks ‐ 35,015 person 35,015 person completed 77,302 person 1,546 77,302 person 1,546 nos. ‐ completed 14,463 14,463 nos. completed as required 18,552 nos. completed 750,000 726,542 no of H/H 157,824 no of H/H 150,000 23,458 completed As required 1,950,966 no of H/H 1546 1,546 nos. completed 3,000 3,867 nos. completed 5 5 nos Completed Demand based 33,893 nos. Demand based 15,815 nos Demand based Demand based 509 nos 16 nos 101
Cluster Meeting with men, women, adolescent girls’ and boys , children School WASH Programme Orientation of School Management Committee Installation of School latrine 39,000 villages X 4 16,170,581number times /yr of sessions 4,500 4,400 nos 4,500 3,879 completed. Orientation of Teachers Student Brigade Training 4,500 15,200 3,879 nos. 15,290 102
completed Took time as school authority were not motivated to install school latrine. ANNEX 3 WASH Organogram Executive Director
Director WASH
Programme Head, WASH
Programme Specialist Team
Training, MIS, SSHE,
Programme Managers
Technology,
Water
Monitoring & QC Senior Regional Managers
Training Coordinator
Sub-Assistant Engineer
Trainer
Sub-Assistant Engineer,
Programme Support
HRD, RED, Gender,
Monitoring, Finance &
Accounts, Audit, Training,
Advocacy Unit,
Procurement
Regional Managers
HR officer, Monitor
Regional Accountant
Upazila Managers
Upazila Accounts Officer
Monitoring & QC Officer
Programme Organisers –VIII Upazila based
Programme Organisers –SSHE Upazila based
Field Organisers – V/IV Union based
Programme Assistants Union based
103
ANNEX 4 MAPS 104
105