19 mln Bangladesh households need to gain access to safely managed sanitation: UN agency

Nineteen million Bangladesh households need to gain access to safely managed sanitation to help the country achieve universal access to sanitation by 2030, the UN children’s agency said Tuesday, reports Xinhua.
   In a statement marking the World Toilet Day which falls on Nov. 19, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said it is about inspiring action to tackle the Global Sanitation Crisis.
   The theme this year is “Leave no-one behind” which follows the push towards achieving the Sustainable Development Agenda.
   This provides the opportunity to call attention to everyone who does not have access to basic sanitation and to draw attention to the fact that achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2 targets will require faster rates of progress among the most disadvantaged segments of the society.
   According to the statement, the major challenge facing Bangladesh is the gap between access and quality of sanitation services such as progression of open defecation free (98.5 percent) to universal access to safely managed sanitation which is currently 31 percent in rural areas.
   There are still inequities in basic sanitation services among divisions and poor and rich in the country. About 83 percent of the richest, but only 46 percent of the poorest people use basic latrine in the country.  Enditem