The Global South WASH Conference 2026 in Kathmandu convened global stakeholders to advance sustainable WASH financing. Discussions emphasized linking infrastructure investments with long-term service delivery. ITN-BUET contributed through research presentations, reinforcing its leadership in sanitation sustainability.

ITN-BUET reinforced its leadership in the global water and sanitation sector through its high-profile participation in the IWA Water Safety Conference & Exhibition 2026, held from March 23–25 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The GSGS RH SSEA, hosted at the AIT, convened a high-level session on Advancing WASH education and through the Global Sanitation Graduate School during the IWA Water Safety Conference & Exhibition 2026 (23-25 March 2026), Sri Lanka.

A learning session convened 18 participants from different institutions of Pakistan including the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), Integrated Regional Support Program (IRSP), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), development sector representatives, academia, and UNICEF to discuss pathways for advancing safely managed sanitation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Province.

The fifth session of SaniTalk Café was held on 24 February 2026 under the theme “Digital Governance for Sanitation: Introducing IMIS to Municipalities.” The session was organized by ITN-BUET in collaboration with GWSC and supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Bangladesh faces increasing challenges in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and waste management due to rapid urbanization, climate risks, public health concerns, and growing regulatory complexity.

A two-day workshop organized by ITN-BUET, in collaboration with the Global Water & Sanitation Center (GWSC) of AIT and Innovative Solution Pvt. Ltd. (ISPL), has strengthened the capacity of sanitation service providers and municipal staff in Dhaka on IMIS-based Scheduled Desludging. The orientation brought together 21 participants, including 15 private sanitation service providers, DWASA treatment plant operators, and DNCC waste management staff, held on 18 and 20 January 2026 at ITN-BUET.

Bangladesh faces a major challenge in achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6.2, which targets 100% safely managed sanitation for all by 2030. Unlike the MDG period, which mainly focused on access to toilets, the SDG framework emphasizes safely managed sanitation services.

In a major step towards advancing safely managed and inclusive sanitation in Bangladesh, the International Training Network Centre of BUET (ITN-BUET) and FINISH Mondial Bangladesh (FMBD) signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) on 7 January 2026

A Planning Workshop on the Implementation of the Capacity Building Component for the 10 Towns Project was jointly organized by ITN-BUET and the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Inclusive and Integrated Sanitation and Hygiene Project in 10 Priority Towns in Bangladesh, DPHE on 4 January 2026.