Budget cuts make it harder to achieve targets in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector: Experts

Achieving 100% safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) by 2030, a headline target of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6), faces major obstacles due to budget cuts and inadequate resource allocations, experts and stakeholders have said Thursday’s press conference.

The press conference was organized by several organizations, including WaterAid, the Energy and Participation Research Center (PPRC), the Freshwater Action Network in South Asia (FANSA), the FSM Network and Sanitation and Water for All (SWA), at the National Press Club in Dhaka.

PPRC Executive Director Hossain Zillur Rahman said: “Not only do we need to increase allocation to the WASH sector, but more importantly, we need adequate allocation. It should be proportional to or greater than the amount of ADP increase. In this case, government allocation to the sector alone is not enough; The private sector must also come forward.”

“Such budget cuts create difficulties in achieving targets and meeting the commitment to 100% safe water and 100% safe sanitation. The ADP allocation to the WASH sector shows fluctuations and a low proportional upward trend. The WASH sector goals in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals are more complex and challenging than the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he added.

Representatives of the organization also called for maintaining the VAT and additional duty exemption on the import of raw materials for the production of sanitary napkins to encourage domestic production of hygiene products for women and adolescent girls.

They also stated that safe water and sanitation should be recognized as fundamental rights. Currently, this sector requires 5 to 6 times more budget because our efforts need to increase 5 to 6 times to meet demand. To increase the allocation, WASH should be declared as a separate sector in the budget.

According to WaterAid, by 2021, Bangladesh met only 59% of its demand for safe drinking water and only 39% of its demand for safely managed sanitation infrastructure, with just six years left to achieve 100% of these targets.

The sector was allocated around Tk 182.28 billion in FY23 and Tk 139.42 billion in FY24. The proposed FY24 budget saw a decline of 23%. Fluctuations in ADP allocation to the WASH sector were also observed in FY13 and FY14. However, the downward swing in FY24 was almost a quarter of the FY23 allocation.

The increase in WASH allocation is only 5.44%, which is much less than the 7.4% increase in ADP volume. Such a disproportionate increase in WASH allocations is likely to have a negative impact on the timely implementation of the government’s SDG6 commitments.

WaterAid Bangladesh also points out that three types of disparities can be observed in the WASH sector in Bangladesh. Mainly rural-urban disparity, urban disparity and less attention given to some hard-to-reach areas, especially in haor areas.

Hossain Zillur Rahman said disparities in the distribution of urban areas and disadvantaged areas at risk from climate change, including char, haor, hilly and other hard-to-reach areas, need to be addressed.