call for a RAISE! National budget analysis for water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) sector in Bangladesh Background and context
policy brief
With the hosting of the first South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-I) in 2003, the Government of Bangladesh launched its commitment to the target of ‘Sanitation for All’ by 2010 (subsequently revised to 2013). Also the country targeted ‘Water for All’ to be achieved by 2011. According to JMP report 2012, Bangladesh has a population coverage of 81% using an improved drinking water sources while the proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility is pretty low at 56%.
WaSH- a neglected sector WaSH sector has been ranked at low level of political priority. In last 4 years, Government’s WaSH investment remains very low with an average allocation of only 0.3% of GDP. Table 1: GoB allocation and spending (in million taka) FY 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12
Published in
May 2012
GoB Education 42,790 37,280 40,818 48,930 52,610
allocation Health 31,015 27,078 31,676 34,729 33,124
WaSH 16,544 14,309 23,370 31,621 30,483
Education 34,356 34,403 43,816 47,806 n/a
Spending Health 28,119 29,027 29,139 27,355 n/a
WaSH 7,956 13,647 20,323 25,049 n/a
WaSH allocation is far below than other sectors like education and health; in terms of spending the situation is even worse (table 1). This actually leads to a weak WaSH sector, and holds back progress on health, education, gender and economic growth.