Allocation for WASH in the proposed budget for the FY23 remains insufficient in addressing the emerging challenges of hard-to-reach areas and marginalised people in the country, said speakers at a post budget discussion.
The budgetary allocation under safely managed sanitation, environment and capacity-building show a surprising decline in the WASH allocation under ADP budget for FY23, they added, saying that the poor allocation will slow down the country’s effort to achieve SDGs targets by 2030.
The conference was jointly arranged by WaterAid along with, Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), FANSA-BD, FSM Network, Bangladesh Water Integrity Network (BaWin), Sanitation and Water for All, End Water Poverty, MHM Platform, UNICEF and WASH Alliance International at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Dr. Hossain Zillur Rahman, eminent economist, executive chairman, PPRC and Hossain Ishrath Adib, acting country director of WaterAid, presented the keynote presentation.
Access to ‘safely managed drinking water’ stands at 59 per cent and the percentage having access to ‘safely managed sanitation’ stands at 39 per cent, read the note. Proportionate allocation for rural areas also showed some increase – from 22.5 per cent in FY22 to 27.7 per cent in FY23.
However, intra-urban inequities in WASH allocation persist with DNCC and Gazipur City Corporation being the big winners in FY23 allocation.
Speakers said that the proposed budget of FY23 finds an upward trend in allocation in haor and hilly regions. This spirit should be scaled up in coastal and char lands to ensure no one is left behind.
However, speakers stressed proper attention in selecting Annual Development Programme projects and the need to reduce the WASH allocation gap across rural and hard-to-reach areas.
An analysis by PPRC in collaboration with WaterAid, found that the WASH ADP allocation increased by 5.44 per cent compared to an overall ADP increase of 7.5 per cent. The total WASH Budget in the ADP budget in the proposed budget is Tk 118.2 billion of Tk 2.46 trillion of ADP allocation.
Though there have been some positive steps to address spatial inequities, there is little consistency across the sector.
Meanwhile, intra-urban inequities led the sector. Speakers recommended bringing more consistency to the spatial allocation of WASH ADP.
There is a slightly increased allocation to hygiene seen as a positive step, but implementing it through the ministry of health alone will not portray the required results for the country. A multi-agency holistic policy approach should be adopted as a priority.
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