Dhaka – Participants at a sanitation conference on Saturday revealed that only one percent people in Bangladesh defecate in the open.
“The rate of open defecation in Bangladesh is now only one percent which was about 34 percent even in 1990,” Abdul Malek, secretary of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry, told the inauguration of a two-day sanitation conference titled “Journey to Zero” at a city hotel.He said Bangladesh has been able to reduce the open defecation rate due to allout efforts of all concerned in improving overall sanitation system.
“It’s a combined success of the government, civil society and common people,” he mentioned.
Different aspects of social awareness activities and Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) movement were highlighted in the conference.
UNICEF country representative Edouard Beigbedar, chief engineer of Public Health and Engineering Department Delwar Hossain, additional engineer Waziullah, researchers Sujan Hanchet and Shafiul Azam Ahmed spoke on the occasion.
Besides, representatives of government, different international donor agencies and civil society, researchers and teachers joined the conference, among others. – News Desk
