Period: December 2022 - February 2023
Client(s): Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) , UNICEF Bangladesh
1. Overview
Improved facilities for drinking water supply do not guarantee that the water is safe to drink unless it is tested and meets recommended water quality guidelines. In Bangladesh, there are 17.5 million people exposed to arsenic contamination in their drinking water. Testing the arsenic concentration in water at all points used for drinking and cooking can determine which areas are at risk and need new safe water points to be installed. This systematic approach and results-based evidence can also help eliminate local elite influence on site selection and target the poor and unserved population in a more equitable way. Service providers such as the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) and other Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene agencies should follow equity-based site selection criteria.
2. Objectives
The overall objective of this assignment is to improve the technical capacity of DPHE on arsenic screening and data management, and to use this data for allocating resources and for equity-based site selection through training and knowledge sharing.
The specific objectives of the assignment are to support the capacity building of DPHE officials on safe water supply in arsenic-prone areas, on arsenic screening and visualization for targeting hot spots, and on conducting community-based analysis to target poor and vulnerable clusters that need arsenic-free safe water.
The assignment will be carried out in two components: the development of a training module and the conduct of training workshops for DPHE at the central and divisional levels.
