Women-friendly toilets in Bangladesh Slums

Just Peoples Ltd

Supported beneficiary groups within Women & Girls

Overseas communities or charities

Age Demographic

Varied Ages

Project Focus

Health

Project Area

International

Metro

Project Description

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.

Expected Outcomes

The expected project outcomes are as follows:

Girls and women will receive access to safe toilets with menstrual products available
Girls and women will maintain their privacy with toilet use
Girls and women will enjoy tension-free menstruation with dignity
The slum environment will be cleaner because of the promotion of a healthy lifestyle in the slums
Community Toilet Leaders will become economically independent

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.

Project Data & Lessons

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.

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Project Dates

Update
Toilets can be rennovated and refurbished as soon as funding is secured.

Funding Details

$25,000
Funding Needed

$5,000
Current Funding

$30,000
Total Project Costs

Approved Deductible Gift Recipient

Approved Tax Concession Charity

Other Funding Sources
Donations from the public through the Just Peoples website

Other Support Opportunities
In-kind contributions, Pro bono services, Subsidies

Organisation Details

Just Peoples Ltd

ABN: 25634335130

ACNC Registration Link

Contact Details

Johanna Peek

email: [email protected]

phone: 0474977140

About Just Peoples Ltd

We believe in a world without poverty. Where people have the power to solve their own problems, their own way.We don’t believe that foreign intervention is the key to solving poverty. We believe that real, sustainable change comes about when people are given the resources to lift their own communities out of poverty. We tackle global poverty by supporting grassroots leaders to design and deliver locally appropriate solutions to the challenges their communities face. Just Peoples currently has 16 Project Leaders from across Africa, Asia and Mexico who are bringing to life a wide-range of projects based on delivering health, education, technological, gender-based and economic outcomes for people living in poverty. Our Project Leaders are effective because they have a deep understanding of the local context of poverty in peoples’ lives, and have established respected relationships in their communities. Their insight and expertise make them the best people to understand problems, and implement lasting changes that work. So far we have delivered 100 grassroots projects globally, impacting the lives of over 85,000 people living in 13 countries around the world.

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If we are to achieve gender equality we will need to pull every lever; being more intentional about bringing women into focus supports smart investment decisions. Philanthropic dollars are limited; it is investments in women and girls that bring the greatest opportunity for social change.

Sam Mostyn AO, Chair, Australians Investing In Women

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.