This project exists to renovate 25 communal toilet facilities in slum communities across Dhaka to ensure they are safe and “women-friendly”. Toilets will be accessible 24/7, have lockable cubicles, and be equipped with menstrual facilities and running water. The facilities will be designed and delivered in conjunction with women in each host community to ensure toilets meet the safety, privacy and health needs of the women and girl residents. At each facility, a local woman will be employed as Community Toilets Manager and be responsible for managing the hygiene levels and providing access to, and education around, sanitary products. Each women-friendly toilet facility will directly benefit 30 girls and women (750 total). In Dhaka slums, people don’t have toilets in their homes and communal toilets are used by an average of 60 people each. Current facilities are unhygienic and women are vulnerable to attacks due to the lack of privacy and locks. This project will ensure women and girls have a safe, comfortable space for their toileting needs and the opportunity to manage their periods hygienically and comfortably. The wider slum communities will benefit, as toilets will promote a cleaner environment. Jobs will be created for 25 Toilet Managers.
The expected project outcomes are as follows:
We will conduct a baseline study with women and girls across each of the target slum areas to gain an understanding of the availability and accessibility of toileting facilities as well as their physical and psychological needs and priorities. This baseline survey will inform the design stage of the project.
Once we have completed the renovations and the community is confidently managing the ongoing running of the facilities a comparative study will be conducted to compare the project’s results and measure the outcomes.
Our project leader Sharmin is on the ground in Bangladesh coordinating the toilet renovation and reconstruction, training the Community Toilets Managers, producing and distributing sanitary products and ensuring the project is implemented as described. We have worked with Sharmin for over 4 years, funding several of her period-poverty reduction programmes and have full trust in her organisation's capacity to undertake this project. Sharmin will provide photo, video and anecdotal evidence of project activities and implementation, as well as receipts and budget breakdown on expenditure. When Just Peoples is able to visit Bangladesh again after Covid restrictions ease, we'll be able to visit the slum communities and see the new toilets in action. We'll provide regular updates to donors on the impact they have made, as part of our commitment to all Just Peoples supporters.
One of the most important things to say about the gender data gap is that it is not generally malicious, or even deliberate… It is simply the product of a way of thinking that has been around for millennia and is therefore a kind of not thinking. A double not thinking, even: men go without saying, and women don’t get said at all.
Also known as Australian Women Donors Network (ABN: 28 141 197 471), Australians Investing in Women is a registered charity endorsed by the Australian Tax Office as a deductible gift recipient (DGR1) under a special listing, all donations over $2 are tax deductible.