WaterAid Bangladesh organised a national event highlighting women's contribution in the sanitation sector at Amari Dhaka in Gulshan on Tuesday.
The event emphasised breaking these long-standing barriers and empowering women to take on leadership roles, enabling them to contribute meaningfully to inclusive and sustainable sanitation systems, says a press release.
The event created a unique platform to connect women professionals from diverse backgrounds, allowing them to share their experiences, insights, and challenges. It aimed to highlight women's contributions in addressing sanitation challenges while proposing actionable solutions to drive progress toward sustainable development goal-6.
The event united leading voices from the sector to promote gender-inclusive sanitation services, foster collaboration, and address systemic challenges hindering women's participation in decision-making to address the sanitation crisis in Bangladesh.
At the beginning of the dialogue Samia Rafa presented the current standing of women in sanitation despite playing a crucial role in managing sanitation issues in their communities. The presentation highlighted that women remain underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions in the WASH sector.
The event featured an engaging panel discussion moderated by Tunazzina Hoque, gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) expert at WaterAid Bangladesh. The distinguished panellists included Hasin Jahan, country director of WaterAid Bangladesh; Farhana Rashid, co-founder and CEO of BHUMIJO; Salma Mahbub, general secretary of Bangladesh Society for the Change and Advocacy Nexus (B-SCAN); and Rozina Afroz Rana, technical specialist at WaterAid Bangladesh.
During the discussion, Hasin Jahan, country director of WaterAid Bangladesh expressed her delight at the increasing participation of women in such sanitation related dialogues. She also added how women still lag behind due to their limited networking opportunities compared to men.
