WaterAid Bangladesh — achieving sustainable environmental health

WaterAid Bangladesh (WAB) has been working in Bangladesh implementing water, sanitation and hygiene
promotion activities since 1986. In 2004 WAB started a 5-year DFID funded project called ‘Achieving
Sustainable Environmental Health’ (ASEH) which aimed at reaching the poorest, geographically excluded
people living in hydro-geologically difficult areas of the country. In little over 5 years the project has
reached nearly 6million beneficiaries with safe and sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene promotional
activities in both urban and rural areas. During the implementation of ASEH it became evident that certain
populations were unintentionally being excluded from the project – people with disabilities were one of
these groups (others include sex workers, tea workers, street sweepers, floating people). The standard
models used by front line staff and engineers in awareness raising, building capacity, hygiene promotion and
in the choice and installation of technologies were not addressing the specific needs of people with
disabilities. Social stigmas and access difficulties meant that they were not present in meetings, CBOs or
hygiene promotional sessions. Technologies chosen by the communities/households most of the time did not
take into account the specific requirements of those with disabilities. In addition many other people such as
the elderly, pregnant women, the sick and injured faced problems in accessing and using water and
sanitation facilities and as a result returned to unsafe practices.
This paper concentrates on the barriers faced by people with disabilities in Bangladesh and how through
WaterAid Bangladesh’s recent pilot project these barriers are being broken.

Disability and poverty
It is recognised by many (DFID 2000, UNESCO 1995) that poor nutrition, dangerous living and working
conditions, limited access to health care and education, poor hygiene and bad sanitation are some of the
causes of disability. Sadly, these are also some of the conditions which are exacerbated by disabilities and
which ensure that people with disabilities are usually the poorest, have low literacy rates, poor health and
have poor access to services. Poor access to education, health care and employment, lead to social and
economic exclusion – resulting in lack of opportunities to participate in community activities and decision
making, families and difficulties in generating income and increasing the workload on caretakers.