National baseline survey on sanitation in Bangladesh: an exemplary event of collaborative partnership

In response to the MDG and WSSD targets, Government of Bangladesh, having formed an effective partnership with Development partners including UNICEF, NGO’s and other stake holders, have declared Bangladesh’s target of achieving total sanitation, whereby, every household in the nation will have facilities of sanitary latrine by 2010. The target will be fulfilled in three phases by 2005, 2008 and 2010. It is realized that in order to set the sanitation target at the grassroots level, it is very important to know the present status of sanitary latrines. To design the intervention it is also important to know the reasons as to why such a vast number of people do not have latrine at all. It was further felt that the elected leaders of the Local Government institutions (LGI’s) should be involved in all activities towards total sanitation. With this in mind, under the leadership of Local Government Division of the Ministry of LGRD&C, nationwide baseline survey was conducted covering all household under the leadership of LGI’s with the assistance of concerned Government departments with minimum financial involvement and within a few weeks. The successful conduction of the survey induced the confidence of the local government institutions for managing nation wide events. The baseline survey was also instrumental to sensitize the grassroots about the sanitation issues.