WaterAid Bangladesh, in association with Kimberly-Clark and the Government of Sweden, celebrated the winners of the national creative campaign, Pothe Holo Dekha, at a prestigious award giving ceremony held on Monday.
The event highlighted the power of art, storytelling, and content creation in driving conversations around public sanitation.
The Pothe Holo Dekha campaign, launched last May, encouraged participants of all ages from across the country to reimagine public toilets through creative expressions.
The initiative received an overwhelming response, with participants submitting artwork, stories, and videos that shed light on the challenges and potential solutions for better public sanitation.
The ceremony honoured winners across three categories. In the art competition category, children aged between 5 to 10 depicted their visions of clean and safe public toilets, with Mifta Binte Sharif from Thakurgaon taking home the top prize. Honourable Mention Awards were received by Zaria Rahman Prarthana, Mosammat Zubaida Jannat, and Jyotiraditya Debnath.
The youth story-writing competition recognized ten talented writers, including Mohammad Maruf Hasan, SM Bayozid Hossain, Nowshin Afsana Brishti, Sumaiya Khanam, Mohammad Zariful Islam Jim, Sameer Ahmed Sohan, Naqib Ali, Zakia Afroz Tamanna, Tahmina Rahman and Sadia Tasmia Talukder.
Meanwhile, 10 social media content creators- Mohammad Shahriar Uddin Tausif, Mohammad Zakir Hossain, Samiul Haque Bhuiyan (Vice-President), Syed Omar Al Faisal, Border Officer Suman. Bohni Nag, Sudipto Sarkar, Kashfaq Ahmed Mughd, Sannivesh Nath and Priyanka Mollah were awarded for their compelling videos advocating for improved public sanitation.
A key highlight of the event was the introduction of Bangladesh’s first Star Rating System for Public Toilets by WaterAid Bangladesh, which awarded Bhumijo and Dustho Shasthya Kendra (DSK) for maintaining exemplary five-star rated public toilets.
The initiative aims to encourage higher standards in public toilet services across the country.
Esteemed guests including writer Anisul Hoque, cartoonist Morshed Mishu, and filmmaker Redoan Rony presented the awards and commended the participants for their innovative contributions.
Hasin Jahan, country director of WaterAid Bangladesh, thanked everyone involved in the event, promising to continue working regularly to raise social awareness about public sanitation through such creative initiatives.
Alongside this, WaterAid Bangladesh presented mementos to the partners who have been an integral part of the public toilet journey including Dhaka South and Dhaka North City Corporations, Dhaka Wasa, Bangladesh Railway and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.
This campaign has inspired change and proved that art, video making and storytelling can be powerful tools for social transformation.