Women Can Change The Sanitation Situation
[ 26 Aug, 2023 ]
“Women are powerful agents of change, as they are able to make bold and wise decisions for their families and also for the community, and the far-reaching benefits of any positive change in society are laying on women. Therefore, women's leadership is needed. And for this, women need to have information & knowledge. Because knowledge is power,” said Paban Kumar Sarkar, Officer, Upazila Women Affairs, Department of Women Affairs, Saghata, Gaibandha opening an Orientation on Women’s Leadership and Professionalism in Claiming WASH Rights on 26 August 2023, at SKS Resource Centre, Bharatkhali, Saghata, Gaibandha. He added, “Likewise other sectors, women’s leadership in WASH and sanitation in particular can bring success to the society.”
30 women leaders from the flood-prone local community of Saghata upazila, including CSO & group leaders, elected women members in the local government, NGO representatives and teachers were oriented on Safely Managed Sanitation (SMSS) with a focus on city-wide inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) under the Rising for Rights for Strengthening Civil Society Network in South Asia to Achieve SDG 6 project.
Discussing the importance of Safely Managed Sanitation Services in SDGs, Md. Mamunur Rashid, Sub-Assistant Engineer, Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), Saghata, said, “We focused on the number of sanitary latrines in households in MDGs, now, in Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we are focusing not only on quantity but also on quality; thereupon, Safely Managed Sanitation Service (SMSS) got important.” He continued, “Sanitation is a right, which must be safe & secured for every segment of society. And women should have a priority for safe & secured sanitation and they can play the change maker role in the promotion of inclusive sanitation in the urban areas.”
Organized by the Women Development Program (WDP), a local member of FANSA- BD, the Orientation was supported by SKS Foundation (FANSA- BD Secretariat). The other facilitators were Farid Ahmed, Executive Director, WDP, Sankar Kumar Roy, Project Coordinator, and Shafiqul Islam, Advocacy Specialist.
