To Bangladesh Partners
Dear Partners and Friends in Bangladesh,
I hope you are all doing well.
After thirteen immensely rewarding years at the Gates Foundation—and nearly twenty-five years before that in the water, sanitation, and hygiene sector—I have decided to step back and begin a new chapter in life. I will retire from the Foundation at the end of this year and return to Nepal to spend more time with my family, especially my elderly mother.
When I joined the Foundation in 2012, sanitation was still often viewed narrowly as toilet construction. Together, we helped transform that narrative into one centered on inclusive, sustainable, and safely managed sanitation for all. Today, governments are investing at scale, the private sector is engaged, and development banks are financing inclusive sanitation. Bangladesh stands out as a shining example of this transformation. Congratulations to all of you for your dedication, vision, and partnership in achieving this progress.
Working in Bangladesh was not new to me. Between 2010 and 2012, during my time with UNDP-UPPRP, I developed strong professional ties with many of you—ties that have only deepened over the years.
My first visit to Bangladesh as part of the Foundation was in February 2013. With the support of SNV-Bangladesh and WaterAid, I conducted stakeholder consultations and met with DPHE to finalize city selection and an action plan. Together, we launched two key initiatives: a knowledge exchange visit to Malaysia on FSM (May 2013) with Malaysian and Senegalese experts (May 2013), and a joint project development with broad stakeholder participation. These formed the foundation for our five-year comprehensive FSM project in Bangladesh—“Demonstration of Pro-Poor Market-Based Solutions for FSM in Bangladesh.” This PPT recalls our first engagement.
This project focused on:
∙ Raising awareness and demand for sanitation services
∙ Ensuring access to safe and affordable sanitation facilities and services
∙ Developing city-wide regulated services and planning
∙ Supporting treatment, reuse, and operations & maintenance
∙ Advancing policy advocacy for learning and national scale-up of FSM and city-wide services
I remain deeply grateful to colleagues and sector leaders—Rajeev, Antoinnette, and Megan (SNV), Hashin and Dr. Khairul (WaterAid), Prof. Alamgir (KUET), Late Liaquat Ali, and Abirul Jabbar (KCC), Md. Abdullah (KWASA)—for their leadership in shaping this pioneering FSM program. Later, Kushtia and Jhenaidah joined this effort, and our decade-long partnership with SNV (2013–2023) became the cornerstone of our engagement in Bangladesh.
Our second major initiative was the City Partnership Program, launched in 2014, in collaboration with Practical Action and DSK. Practical Action developed a PPP model for sustainable FSM services in Faridpur, while DSK focused on sanitation policy and practices in Dhaka North City Corporation. My sincere thanks to Uttam Shah and Dibalok Da for their leadership in this effort.
WaterAid, as our global strategic advocacy partner since 2016, played a crucial role in shaping Bangladesh’s policy and advocacy agenda, advancing national sector development. Our partnership continued until the end of 2024, and we also had the opportunity to work together on healthcare facility improvements during COVID.
These partnerships—SNV, Practical Action, WaterAid, DSK, and KUET—laid the groundwork for the Institutional and Regulatory Framework (IRF) for FSM in Bangladesh, led by ITN-BUET. Under the leadership of Professors Mujibur and Prof Ashraf, the IRF was developed and launched in November 2017—a landmark moment for the sector. Here is the PPT on launching the program.
In the same year, our partnership with UCLG and the Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB) significantly enhanced local engagement efforts by directly mobilizing mayors and city officials across the country. This collaboration has remained active and impactful to this day. I am grateful to Bernadia, Ashih, and Shamim from UCLG, as well as Abdur Rauf and Parimal Dev from MAB, for their dedicated commitment and hard work in driving this initiative forward.
Additionally, I have been impressed by the collaborative efforts among SNV, ITN-BUET, and WaterAid, who provided critical technical assistance to MAB. This support was instrumental in orienting all MAB member cities to the IRF. WaterAid’s support was instrumental in developing Shit Flow Diagrams (SFDs) for numerous cities. These SFDs have made a substantial contribution to raising awareness of the status of safely managed sanitation in each town in Bangladesh, prompting mayors and city officials to work toward the safely managed sanitation. Today, Bangladesh has 10 CWIS mentor cities that are now learning centers for the country and region.
Through programs like WUSP and partnerships with ICCO in 2017, we demonstrated new FSM business models and technologies that benefited urban low-income communities. Together with all partners, FSM Network Bangladesh was established as a standard and collective platform for sector actors to generate ideas, share insights, influence policy and practice, and raise a unified voice to address challenges in the sanitation sector. I am glad to see that the Network members are now organizing the biannual convention alongside the Sanitation Workers Convention. Kudos to Ishrat Sabnam, Uttam Shah, Goni, Tahmid and the entire Practical Action Team for its work on sanitation workers’ welfare and for continuing to serve as the secretariat for the FSM Network. Dasra’s mentorship on the institutionalization of FSM-Net, based on learning from FSSMA, was also appreciated. Thanks to Dhruv, Kaveri, Shreya, Reshwin, and Pragya for your support.
A major milestone was the tripartite MoU signed on September 20, 2018, by DPHE, ITN-BUET, and the Gates Foundation, to build institutional capacity to implement FSM projects and monitor fecal waste management. This led to the establishment of the FSM Support Cell within DPHE, a collaborative effort among many visionary leaders at DPHE and INT BUET.
I am deeply grateful to all ten Chief Engineers I have worked with at DPHE since 2013—especially Md. Saifur Rahman (2019–2022), whose tenure marked remarkable achievements, including the establishment of the CWIS-FSM Support Cell (CFSC), capacity-building for the implementation of IRF, the development of a sanitation dashboard, and the introduction of transformative technologies such as the Omni Processor.
The establishment of the CFSC and ITN-BUET’s Regional Capacity Platform was pivotal in institutionalizing CWIS and FSM at scale. My sincere appreciation to Prof. Mujibur, Prof. Ashraf, Prof. Tanvir, Prof. Mumtaz, Alauddin, and the ITN-BUET team for their leadership. Having CFSC within the DPHE was instrumental in increasing funding; it facilitated securing significant investment from development partners and the government, totaling over $1 billion in ongoing and pipeline projects to scale up CWIS by 2030. Deep appreciation to Tushar Mohan, MD Shafiq (Co-Chair), and Dr. Muyeed (COO) for their leadership in driving the cell.
Building on this, TA Hub with DevCon was launched in 2019 to support the design of CWIS and FSM projects for DPHE and development banks. Their contribution to the design of the IsDB 10 towns and AIIB 25 towns was instrumental. Much appreciated the DevCon team, namely Dr Tanveer, Ashreya, Sumaiya, and Isha, for their support in driving TA Hub activities.
The TA Hub structure, led by DevCon and later continued by GWSC-AIT, has become a lasting legacy—supporting DPHE in public data system development, IMIS integration, and providing TA support for the implementation of CWIS project partners. The collaboration between DPHE, GWSC-AIT, SNV, A2I, ITN BUET, Tiller, Stream tech, and ISPL is jointly supporting cities in implementing IMIS and providing TA to the DPHE to establish a national and sub-national public data system for sanitation, which is very innovative for the region. Kudos to Shishir Biswas and Sharmistha, DPHE, for their leadership and commitment in establishing a public data system. Similarly, I was amazed to see the leadership of Dilruba for driving the IsDB 10 towns project. Grateful Prof. Sangam, Prof. Thammarat, Makefie, Isha, Sanjeev, Hendra, Sichu (GWSC-AIT), Dr. Bhushan (ISPL), Shahid Bhai (SNV), Tamzidul (Tiller), and the teams from Stream tech and A2i for their technical support.
The partnership between UNICEF and GWSC is another milestone in launching the sanitation service model and CWIS in large cities like Dhaka and Rajshahi. Thanks to Adnan and Peter at UNICEF Bangladesh for their support in the intervention in megacities. Our partner Athena was very valuable in documenting CWIS learning. Thanks, Ram and Sonia, for your efforts and contributions. Through our initiatives with multilateral and development banks such as the ADB, World Bank, IsDB, and AIIB, on-site sanitation components have been incorporated into projects implemented by the Government of Bangladesh. Currently, more than 50 cities are benefiting from these investments, together with our partners. MAWTS has tested locally made faecal sludge emptying devices to enhance the efficiency of sanitation workers’ services and has provided support with vacuum tankers, not only within the country but also through exports to other countries.
We are truly proud of our partners—DPHE, WaterAid, SNV, Practical Action, WSUP, MAB, FANSA, ITN- BUET, GWSC-AIT, Unicef and many others—who have transformed Bangladesh’s sanitation landscape. I am deeply thankful for your friendship, collaboration, and leadership.
At the Foundation, I owe immense gratitude to Brian Arbogast, our former Director, and my WSH colleagues—Jan Willem, Alyse, Radu, Dipika, Enrica, Melissa, and Raminta for their constant support. My heartfelt thanks to Neelima Thota for her exceptional leadership and steadfast guidance during my engagement in Bangladesh.
There are many more champions whose names I cannot list here—but please know that each of you holds a special place in my journey. Every experience, every milestone, and every collaboration has been significant. The programs may have concluded, but the institutions, capacities, and leadership you have built will continue to advance inclusive sanitation across the country and beyond.
Though I will be stepping away from my official role, my commitment remains strong. I look forward to continuing as a mentor and advisor, supporting innovation, policy development, and capacity-building efforts.
My final day with the Foundation will be December 31, 2025. I am working closely with Doulaye, Najib, Sakshi, and the WSH team to ensure a smooth transition. Sakshi Gudwani, who will lead our programs in India and Asia, will continue to work closely with you.
Thank you for your friendship, trust, and inspiration. It has been an honor and a privilege to work alongside you all toward our shared vision of inclusive and sustainable sanitation for everyone. I hope to see many of you at the IWA Development Congress in Bangkok.
Please feel free to reach me at rrshrestha712@gmail.com starting January 1, 2026.