Marking a major step forward in advancing climate-resilient Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) systems, ITN-BUET and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) on 01 December 2025 to accelerate research, knowledge generation, and capacity building in the sector.
The agreement was formally signed by Professor Dr. Rowshan Mamtaz, Director of ITN-BUET, and Dr. Tahmeed Ahmed, Executive Director of icddr,b, marking a shared commitment by both institutions to bridge engineering and health disciplines for sustainable WASH and public health outcomes.
Through this partnership, ITN-BUET and icddr,b will jointly promote innovation in climate-resilient WASH, hospital WASH, and medical waste management. The collaboration aims to strengthen institutional capacity, develop context-specific interventions, and generate evidence to inform national policies and sectoral strategies. ITN-BUET will lead on engineering and technical expertise, including fecal sludge management and sanitation technologies, while icddr,b will provide public health, epidemiological, and clinical WASH expertise.
The Strategic Partnership Agreement places strong emphasis on capacity building through joint training programs, workshops, fellowships, and knowledge-sharing platforms that bring together engineers, healthcare professionals, and municipal authorities. Under this collaboration, the partners will jointly develop training curricula, policy briefs, and practical guidelines that integrate technical and clinical perspectives to strengthen hospital- and community-level sanitation systems.
The partnership is guided by a shared commitment to advancing inclusive, resilient, and evidence-based WASH and healthcare systems. By combining engineering innovation with public health expertise, the collaboration aims to design and implement solutions that are technically sound, socially acceptable, and environmentally sustainable.
In addition, the SPA promotes joint operational research in areas such as hospital waste management, climate-resilient WASH systems, and public health impact assessment. Knowledge products generated through this collaboration will be co-created and disseminated for non-commercial and educational purposes, supporting national efforts and broader stakeholder engagement to institutionalize safe, sustainable, and scalable sanitation practices.
