Amid the political shift Bangladesh experienced, WSUP continued its mission to drive transformative change in urban WASH services, ensuring that the country’s most vulnerable urban residents are not left behind.
Our achievements in the year 2024-2025 have laid the groundwork for lasting, large-scale transformation, including the SWEEP model, a market-based public-private partnership for safe, affordable and professional faecal sludge management (FSM) services. SWEEP has been recognised as a model of innovation for driving public-private partnerships to improve FSM services and as best practice for equitable urban sanitation investment.
Funding from The Coca-Cola Foundation has enabled our work with Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority and other utilities to extend legal water connections into low-income settlements while reducing non-revenue water and building institutional capacity for last-mile service delivery. At the same time, we are strengthening school facilities to improve hygiene practices, advance gender equity, and creating safer, more inclusive learning environments, recognising water, sanitation and hygiene as a cross-cutting driver of development.
Through our partnership with the VF Corporation, WSUP worked with management in 15 factories across Chattogram and Tongi to implement the WASH for Factory Workers initiative, providing safe and dignified WASH services for predominantly female workforces.
We continue to be a key voice in shaping Bangladesh’s national WASH policy. We have contributed to the FSM network and the Menstrual Hygiene Management platform and collaborated with the Policy Support Branch under the Ministry of Local Government to develop the WASH Sector Development Plan, a costed action plan for menstrual hygiene management. Our advocacy has also led to increased recognition of WASH needs within worker welfare programs in the industrial sector.
Looking ahead, we plan to further develop the SWEEP model, sharing our learning in fora such as UNC Water and Health Conference, deepen climate-resilient WASH practices, expand inclusive school and workplace initiatives, and support citywide inclusive sanitation planning.