ITN-BUET jointly organized the Toilet Conference 2025 with WaterAid Bangladesh, UNICEF Bangladesh, and SNV. The conference was held at the InterContinental Dhaka, Bangladesh, from February 25 to 26, 2025. There were 4 dedicated Plenary Sessions with prominent experts in the specialized fields as keynote speakers, including 13 technical sessions and 6 oral presentation sessions where a total of 32 research papers were presented.
Two distinguished sector leaders, both with strong ties to ITN-BUET, delivered insightful keynote speeches in the Plenary Session 1 and 3.
In the Plenary 1 on— ‘Climate Resilient Sanitation’ and ‘Innovative Technology’, the founder Director of ITN-BUET, Prof. Dr. M. Feroze Ahmed, delivered his keynote speech on “Innovative Technologies for Climate-Resilient Sanitation.” He appealed for the necessity of taking immediate measures in integrating advanced technologies to ensure sustainable and adaptive sanitation systems. He reiterated the measures we should take as a nation to meet the SDG 6.2 and to combat the very alarming threat of climatic disaster by 2050 in Bangladesh. Prof. Ahmed remarked, “People are knowledgeable but not proactive. The future of sanitation depends on how effectively we innovate and implement climate-resilient technologies that address the growing environmental challenges.”
Also, the former Director of ITN-BUET, Prof. Dr. Tanvir Ahmed, delivered his keynote speech on “Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion in Climate-Resilient Sanitation” in the Plenary Session 03 where he stressed that achieving sustainable sanitation requires a strong commitment to equity and inclusivity. “Sanitation solutions must be accessible to all irrespective of their gender or social class, so that no one is left behind in our pursuit of universal sanitation,” said Prof. Ahmed. In his delivery, he advocated strongly for making sanitation infrastructure and services more accessible to women, people with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups.
ITN-BUET also facilitated a technical session, a panel discussion, and presented 3 research papers in the conference. Moreover, in his remarks as the Chief Guest in the closing ceremony of the conference, the honorable Vice Chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Professor Dr. Abu Borhan Mohammad Badruzzaman expressed his insightful thoughts on the sanitation picture of Bangladesh and expressed his commitment to continuously strengthen ITN-BUET to be a torchbearer in capacity building for sector stakeholders in Bangladesh and beyond.
