The role of non-governmental organizations in decentralised wastewater management in Bangladesh

This paper focuses on the role of NGO’s in the provision of infrastructure and wastewater management services in Bangladesh in relation to the context of decentralisation. Using two examples of decentralised waster management, the paper describes the way in which decentralised approaches may be more responsive to local needs and demands involving local community in the decision-making process. Although these are seen to be successful at the local level, the lack of higher lever institutional support and a policy framework to promote an enabling environment means that these projects remain as isolated cases. Within the existing context in Bangladesh, the paper concludes with proposed capacity building requirements that are envisaged to be necessary to overcome these constraints and to enable wider replication of these examples of decentralised wastewater management.