Bangladesh Association for Social Advancement (BASA) is leading a group titled ‘Urban Group’ of Bangladesh WASH Alliance (BWA). This group is working in the urban areas of BWA project interventions. We are covering 10000 households under Sakhira and Bagerhat municipality with WASH facilities. Most of these households are slum dwellers. We are also covering 20 schools for providing WASH facilities. We are promoting hygiene promotion sessions among the different groups. To ensure different WASH facilities towards the households, we have formed different groups such as Mothers Group, Child Group, Adolescent Girls Group, CBO etc. BASA is implementing both hardware and software activities and BASA‚Äôs main role in the Urban Group of BWA is more activities implementation centered.

We are proud of linking our large microcredit program with innovative social action programs i.e., WASH, waste management, climate change resilience programs etc. We are also proud because what we are doing through DWA assisted project is contributing towards the scale up of lifestyle of the most vulnerable people who live in the climate change challenged coastal areas. Through BASA’s project, available safe drinking water sources and proper sanitation facilities are being created in the slums, which reduces health risks of the slum dwellers and the pollution of the surrounding environment.

Our work can be very challenging due to:

• Climate change effects, like unusual cyclones, storm surges, flooding, drought, intrusion of saline water, heavy rainfall, less rainfall etc.
• Rapid urbanization in the small towns of Bangladesh
• Densely populated areas
• Lack of resources of Local Government Institutes
• Lack of public awareness about safe drinking water and proper sanitation
• Inadequate water and sanitation facilities in the educational institutes and health centers

Our ongoing projects are mostly focused on reducing peoples vulnerability from the effect of climate change, WASH, promotion of environment friendly technologies such as biogas, solar power, improvement of cook stove, ecological sanitation, waste management and the reduction of livelihood vulnerability of mothers and orphans.

I have started working with BASA from 2006. I have been working with BASA for the scale up of livelihoods of the poor peoples of the project intervention areas. I look for the following areas:

• Proper implementation BASA-BWA Project
• Promote environment friendly technologies in the community level through different ongoing projects
• Liaise with different Government Agencies, UN Agencies, Donors, INGO‚Äôs, NGO‚Äôs etc.
• Project Development, Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation

I hope in the future everybody will have access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation. This will help developing the poor’s livelihoods. Also pollution free environment and vulnerability reduction due to climate change effects are future wishes.

A.K.M.Rafiqul Islam works as a project coordinator at Bangladesh Association for Social Advancement (BASA)