The Swiss Embassy and WaterAid Bangladesh have provided key inputs regarding the country’s water and waste management sector with their participation in a regional climate conference in Dhaka.
In a session on “Water and Waste: Strengthening Local Governance for Urban Resilience and Sustainability”, experts underlined key five areas.
Those include – empowering local governance; enhancing community engagement; adoption of innovation and technology; fostering collaboration and partnerships; and formulation and implementation of better policies and regulations.
The conference that ended on Sunday provided “an ideal stage” for the experts to delve into critical steps aimed at reinforcing local governance in the pursuit of climate-resilient sustainable development, said a statement.
Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Md Tajul Islam was present as the chief guest.
“We can solve any challenges once we can make local leaders accountable, transparent, build up their capacity and, drive collective actions,” he said.
The minister said his ministry would build “waste incinerators” to produce electricity.
“With the help of foreign investors, we will build the plants, and the government will buy the electricity. Daily 3,000-4,000 tons of waste will be processed and the plants can be expanded in the future,” he said.
Corinne Henchoz Pignani, deputy head of cooperation, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, reflected the idea of the minister, saying “the most efficient way to address an issue is where the people are concerned.”
“We engage with local government, citizens, civil societies, and grassroots organizations. Private sector engagement is also key. We need to work with all stakeholders to tackle climate change through impact investing and community sensitization.”
WaterAid Bangladesh’s Country Director Hasin Jahan said climate change is causing more frequent and severe natural disasters, which are having a devastating impact on water and sanitation.
“We need to invest in resilient infrastructure and build the resilience of people, especially women, so that they can cope with these disasters,” she said.
“One way to do this is to train women to operate water treatment plants and other climate-adaptive infrastructure. This will help them to earn a livelihood and become self-sustaining water entrepreneurs."
The Embassy of Switzerland awarded a multi-year project titled “GO4IMPact” to WaterAid Bangladesh and Swisscontact, recently.
This initiative aims to enhance local democracy and foster equitable, climate-resilient public services in water and waste management.
Member of the Climate Parliament India Agatha Sangma, and Member of Climate Parliament Nepal Madhav Sapkota also attended the conference.
