Achievements of BRAC Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Programme Towards Millennium Development Goals and Beyond

BRAC WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) programme aims to facilitate, in partnership with the government of Bangladesh and other stakeholders, the attainment of the targets of UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) related to water and sanitation focusing underprivileged groups across the country and thereby improve the health situation and enhance equitable development. The study reveals that over 97% of the households across the survey area used tubewell water for drinking, while it was least used for bathing in both rainy and dry seasons. The use of tubewell water for food preparation significantly increased over time, which is one of the prior concerns of World Health Organization for improvement of health. Despite the progress in the use of tubewell water for different purposes, some technical challenges emerged as arsenic contamination in tubewell water, unmarked tubewell for arsenic or non-arsenic, no treatment of water before drinkingThe gap between knowledge and practice existed among the respondents. However, to transform the knowledge into practice and practice into habit, continuous learning process through more frequent cluster meetings, home visits by programme organizers, and practical demonstration of some practices are imperative. Women still play significant role in water collection and cleaning of tubewell platform and household latrine. Increased involvement of other family members in household activities would open up the opportunity for women to be involved in productive activities. Evidence reveals that significant reduction in the prevalence of water-related disease has been found. But challenge remains to continue on improved and sustained hygiene practices.