Report No. PID8268 Project Name Bangladesh-School and Community (+) Sanitation Project Region South Asia Regional Office Sector Rural Water Supply & Sanitation Project BDPE57832 Borrower(s) Government of Bangladesh Implementing Agency Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) under Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MLGRD&C) Environment Category B Date PID Prepared March 22, 1999 Projected Appraisal Date February 15, 2000 Projected Board Date October 15, 2000 1. Country and Sector Background Main Sector Issues (i) Neglected Sanitation. While sustained efforts during the past decade have resulted in a high coverage of water supply in rural areas of Bangladesh reaching about 97 percent in 1996, only 39 percent of the rural population had access to sanitary latrines in 1997. The majority of the rural population still relies on unsanitary hanging latrines or open defecation, which pollute surface and ground water. This is considered one of the main reasons why diarrheal diseases continue to be a major health problem in Bangladesh. In fact, the combination of inadequate means of sanitary waste disposal, traditional and indiscriminate use of polluted surface waters, and lack of hygiene awareness causes 80 percent of all illnesses, including more than 15 million incidences of diarrhea, malaria, intestinal worms and skin diseases. To exacerbate things further, arsenic contamination of groundwater in several regions of the country has led concerned communities to use microbially polluted surface water, which can be more harmful than arsenic contaminated water. Irrespective of arsenic content in groundwater, almost 50 percent of the population still resort to pond and river water for several household purposes. There is therefore an urgent need to reduce surface water pollution through increased access to sanitation and to improve awareness about the vector of disease transmission through hygiene and environmental education. (ii) Change in Approach. In order to achieve wider sanitation coverage and to increase project sustainability, there is a need for a significant shift from the government's centralized approach of constructing and financing sanitation facilities for communities, towards promotion of a demand-driven, participatory, and sustainable approach to sanitation. Experience in Bangladesh and other developing countries show that traditional supply-driven and top-down approaches to provide rural water and sanitation services are unsustainable, due to lack of ownership and neglected maintenance. Though some donors and NGOs have recently started a more demand-driven and participatory approach in Bangladesh, more substantial reform of policies and practices are required. A demand-driven approach must ensure that, in order to promote the sense of ownership, communities and users must be given choices among technical options after being fully informed of the advantages and disadvantages of various options, including maintenance requirements. Increased ownership and a demand- driven/participatory approach will likely lead to increased user contribution towards capital costs and operation and maintenance (O&M), either through paying cash or through providing labor. (iii) Target Children and Women. Bangladesh's unsanitary conditions disproportionately affect children, whose growth and development are affected by frequent incidences of diarrhea and other parasitic infections. 20 to 25 percent of children under five are estimated to die as a cause of diarrhea alone. A significant number of rural primary and secondary schools do not have basic water and sanitation facilities; where existent, latrines are often not properly maintained, creating at times far more health hazards than if not available. Lack of facilities has been found to be particularly troublesome for girls, with discouraging effects on their school attendance. At the community level, it is also women who suffer the most from the lack of sanitation facilities. Even where public toilets are available, women are sometimes reluctant to use them due to design features that do not take into account cultural conditions, e.g. entrances shared with men; inadequate privacy; insufficient number of toilets for women; use of male caretakers in women's latrines; etc. Special efforts would be necessary to ensure that women's views are reflected in project designs. (iv) Institutional Responsibilities. The absence of a clear government strategy for water supply and sanitation has contributed to an overall institutional weakness in this sector. Not only are agencies involved in the provision of water and sanitation services insufficiently organized, staffed and equipped to provide the level and type of services required in the rural areas, but their respective roles are not clearly defined. There are some overlaps of responsibilities, while some of the tasks have no owners. For example, there is an obvious duplication between the responsibilities of DPHE and the LGED, particularly in the implementation of water supply, sanitation and drainage schemes. In this regard, existing school latrines are either constructed by DPHE or LGED, yet these agencies tend to lack resources or skills to promote local ownership through participative methods. A small maintenance fund for the school building, being either constructed by LGED, the Department of Public Works or through local initiatives on an ad hoc basis, is provided by Department of Primary Education for government recognized primary schools. However, the fund is far too small to cover the cost of necessary repair. -2- Conflict also exist between the line agencies at the central and elected representatives at the local level. While the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) Committees have been formed under the elected Union Parishads, the failure to entrust them with responsibilities and budget to take care of local water and sanitation problems has rendered them rather ineffective. Government Sectoral Strategy (i) The National Environmental Management and Action Plan (NEMAP). One of the highest ranked priorities that emerged from the Government's National Environmental Management and Action Plan (NEMAP) is water quality improvement. The NEMAP process began in 1992 and was completed in 1996 with Cabinet endorsement of the Action Plan document. It is the first national document to assess the full range of environmental problems in Bangladesh, and its preparation was based on wide public consultation. Some 270 broad recommendations emerged from the NEMAP, which were subsequently prioritized in a participatory process with sixteen line agencies, using both a cost- benefit framework and an environmental expenditure review of all government investment projects in the capital budget. The result of this process was a much clearer prioritized action plan for addressing environmental issues, and were issued by the GOB as the NEMAP Implementation Framework. The proposed project emerged from this framework. (ii) Water and Sanitation Sector. In the last few years and with increasing coverage of water supply in rural areas, the GOB has shifted its program to focus more on sanitation and hygiene awareness. However, planning is still predominantly project-based, and does not form part of a long-term sector development strategy, which would take into consideration sector-specific and inter- sectoral issues. The only piece of strategic vision for the water and sanitation sector is the National Policy for Safe Water Supply and Sanitation approved in 1998, which indicates a gradual phasing out of subsidies and complete sanitation coverage "in the near future". (iii) Decentralization. The current government has shown some commitment to decentralizing administrative authority to the elected representatives at the local level. Two major pieces of legislation were passed, paving the way for the direct election of women candidates into the Union Parishads. Moreover, the Cabinet has agreed to administratively decentralize several development functions, including responsibilities for water and sanitation services and environmental sustainability, to the UPs that would be complemented by a transfer of centrally located government staff to the local level. The main outcome of the decentralization efforts and the actual transfer of implementation and financial authority to the local levels are yet to be implemented, and the project would be -- together with the Arsenic Project -- a first step in support of these decentralization efforts. 2. Objectives The primary objective of the proposed School and Community Sanitation Project is to reduce sickness and premature mortality, caused by lack - 3- of sanitary facilities, poor surface water quality and inadequate hygiene practices, through provision of low-cost sanitation and water supply schemes, low-cost sewerage treatment systems, and hygiene education. A secondary objective is to effect a replicable and sustainable framework for sanitation and water supply investments, through reorientation of the responsible central government agency towards an effective monitoring and regulatory institution, strengthening of local government functions, and participation of beneficiaries in the design, construction and maintenance of the facilities. The project is targeted at rural and peri-urban areas in Bangladesh. 3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement Given its experience gained worldwide and active involvement across the sectors in Bangladesh, the Bank is uniquely positioned to (i) advise on project design based on best practices and cross- country lessons in past and ongoing rural water and sanitation projects; (ii) foster, in tandem with other project such as the Arsenic Mitigation - Water Supply Project, institutional reform within DPHE and the elected local governments; (iii) create a sustainable and transparent mechanism for channeling government and donor resources in support of water and sanitation demands to eligible entities; (iv) induce effective coordination between the different ministries and donors. 4. Description Proposed project entails the following components: (i) A fund earmarked for sanitation and water supply to which schools (primary and secondary), orphanages, communities, local governments, and legally accountable institutions can apply for assistance, with different cost-sharing and eligibility criteria. While the main focus of this component would be sanitation, funding would also be provided for water supply in connection with sanitation, where lacking. This component would not only finance new sanitation (and water) schemes, but would also include repair and rehabilitation of damaged water supply and sanitation infrastructure. (ii) A component to support innovative sanitation schemes, including duckweed-based environmental sanitation, compost latrines, biogas converters, and other schemes that are deemed to be promising on a pilot basis. (iii) A hygiene and environmental education component for communities (including schools and orphanages) that would be organized by an NGO, jointly with the community, in the form of a 'community environmental health fair'. Activities proposed under this component could include group sessions discussing the communities' concerns, needs and knowledge related to hygiene practices and surface water quality; hands-on demonstrations to disseminate information on the dangers of living in unsanitary and unhygienic surroundings; involvement of children in hygiene, environmental and health activities, such as painting contests; a self-monitoring questionnaire for self-assessment of hygiene related practices. The program would be designed with significant input by women, in order to ensure that it caters to women's and children's needs. Follow-up -4 - activities and continuous programs for hygiene education and behavioural change would be defined during further preparation of this component and in partnership with other on-going programs. (iv) An institutional and technical support component that includes a. an information campaign detailing availability of financial assistance for sanitation (and water supply) schemes and guidelines for accessing such funds. DPHE would disseminate written information to its officers at the district and Thana level, and to each Union Parishad in the initial districts. Follow-up campaigning would be undertaken by local NGOs, contracted by DPHE, that would conduct consultative sessions with the local stakeholders and UP members. b. a capacity building component to strengthen implementation, supervision and coordination capacities of the local stakeholders (DPHE, Union Parishads, CBOs), and assist the DPHE in implementing acceptable financial management and project management reporting standards. c. a technical assistance component to finance feasibility studies; training; district-wise sample baseline surveys to assess demand for and impact of proposed activities; community mobilization activities; and continuous monitoring and evaluation to review lessons learnt from implementation. i. Water Supply and Sanitation Fund ii. Innovative Environmental Sanitation and Latrines iii. Hygiene and Environmental Education Component iv. Institutional and Technical Support Component 5. Financing Total ( US$m) Government 0 IBRD 0 IDA 0 Total Project Cost 0 6. Implementation KEY FEATURES Implementation Period and Phasing. The School and Community Sanitation Project would be implemented over five years, with overall implementation responsibility of the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MLGRD&C). The project will be phased such that implementation will commence in the first year in a selected number of districts, while preparatory activities will be undertaken in a next tier of districts to be targeted in the second year of project implementation, and so on. Prioritization of districts will take into consideration on-going and planned programs by other donors, needs as determined by coverage, and commitment by local government and DPHE representatives at district, thana and union level. The number of districts to be covered during each respective year depends on DPHE's capacity, that would be assessed during appraisal. Central Project Management/LACI. A project management unit (PMU) will - 5 - be formed within the DPHE, with the main responsibilities of continuous supervision of on-going activities in the districts, and the preparation of progress reports to the Bank on the current status of implementation. The PMU would also be responsible for the preparation of the annual workplans, for internal monitoring and evaluation of the different project components, and for bid evaluations for the procurement of goods and services (if applicable). Under the new requirements of LACI, the PMU will also be responsible to establish and maintain a sound financial management system for the entire disbursement cycle (including the DPHE district offices). Adequate assistance for implementing such system will be provided by the project's capacity building component. A review of the financial management capacity of the DPHE at both central and district level will be undertaken before appraisal. Project Coordination. On the ministerial level, the existing inter- ministerial Steering Committee on Water Supply and Sanitation, chaired by the Secretary MLGRD, would discuss broader implementation strategies, provide a forum for donor involvement in this sector, ensure coordination of proposed activities with departments in other ministries (i.e. the Department of Primary and Mass Education, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Department of Primary Health Care & Disease Control, and the Department of Social Affairs) and resolve implementation bottlenecks when applicable. There is little coordination between LGED and DPHE, although the two departments are under the same ministry. This has led, on some occasions, to duplication of efforts and works, which needs to be addressed during the preparation of proposed project. Inter-ministerial coordination at the local level occurs usually through committees at thana or district level. Of particular importance to proposed project are the thana representatives from the Department of Primary Education (DPE) -- the Thana Education Officers (TEO) -- and the Department of Primary Health Care & Disease Control (DPHCDC) -- the Thana Health Officers (THO). In general, the incentives to provide assistance to projects managed by other line ministries is quite small, and a feasible way to ensure that both the TEOs and the THOs are both informed and consulted regularly needs to be identified. It was proposed during the review meeting of this PCD to pay special attention to the coordination of activities under this project. This is not only required at the side of the client, but also within the Bank, given the cross-sectoral nature of proposed intervention, and the potential to enhance outcomes if projects pull together in the same direction. It is for that reason, that some form of continuous debriefing to staff involved in the recently effective Primary Education Development Project, and in the National Nutrion and the Social Investment Programs -- both under preparation -- would be undertaken. In addition, the team of the proposed SCSP is cross- sectoral in nature with members working already on one or two of the above captioned projects, thereby assuming a coordinating role. - 6 - Funding Arrangements. The DPHE at district level would provide funds to legally accountable entities -- i.e. school management committees (SMCs), Union Parishads (UPs), public institutions, community organizations with legal status or in partnership with UPs -- according to the rules and eligibility criteria to be defined during project preparation. While individual institutions, such as schools or orphanages, would be eligible to apply for funding, a more holistic approach would be promoted under the project, seeking to involve the entire community in the assessment of needs. Where the registration of communities as legal entities is problematic, communities can opt to partner with UPs; the UP would then become the executing body on behalf of the community. Funds may be released in tranches and transferred directly to the account of the beneficiaries. The release of the next tranche could be conditional upon documentation of bills for the expenditures already incurred. A review of the feasibility of proposed funding arrangement will be conducted as part of an overall feasibility study. This would also include a review of the capacity of the UPs, and the level of subsidies for different service levels. Implementation/Procurement. Upon receipt of funds, the beneficiaries will be responsible for any procurement that may arise (materials, contractors) and adequate installation of the fixtures. Depending on the findings of an on-going review of technology options, some items may be difficult to procure in the local markets. In these cases, DPHE in Dhaka would be responsible for undertaking the procurement of the goods and for the delivery to the beneficiaries. Supervision. The beneficiaries would supervise the contractors, and seek assistance from the Thana based sub-assistant engineer, DPHE, in case of conflicts or problems. The sub-assistant engineer, DPHE, would conduct visits on a regular basis to ensure appropriate utilization of funds and progress of works. The UP would assist in the review on the progress of works and would advise DPHE on the release of the next tranche of funds. The incentive structures of all the involved parties to adequately perform their supervision tasks would be reviewed, and adjustments where necessary would be recommended. In addition, a mobile technical group (for instance, a private sector consultant team) may be contracted to supplement the supervision efforts of the DPHE, the UPs and the Bank. This may become necessary, since community contracting requires more technical assistance and guidance than if goods and services are procured centrally. Accounting and Auditing. All project accounting procedures will be consistent with the current LACI guidelines. Adequate training and computerization would be provided under the project and in consultation with DPHE to ensure prudent accounting and financial management. The project's accounts would be audited by independent auditors acceptable to the Bank. Monitoring and Evaluation. Apart from the monitoring and evaluation tools generally adopted in Bank projects, it is proposed to have a -7 - more detailed approach towards monitoring through process indicators that would be evaluated on a continued basis during project implementation, and be used to learn from and alter -- if necessary - - the adopted approach. Proposed SCSP would strongly emphasis learning during implementation, including learning from modalities adopted in other programs within this sector, in order to generate clear lessons learned that could guide future investments. At the community level, social auditing of the use of funds received under the project would be encouraged in order to ensure transparency and social equity. In addition, self-monitoring and evaluation tools to be implemented by the beneficiaries would also be explored, especially as they relate to use and maintenance of latrines, hygiene practices and health. T his component is potentially a major innovation in the way we learn from implementing projects. MAIN IMPLEMENTATION STEPS Preparatory Work. For each district, needs assessments, strengthening of implementation capacity of the participating entities, preparation of shortlists for both local NGOs and private contractors, and detailed feasibility studies need to be undertaken. For the initial districts targeted in the first batch, preparatory work would be finalized before project effectiveness so that implementation could start immediately thereafter. Information Campaign. DPHE would contract the services of a national NGO to put together a simple and easy understandable information package for dissemination to all stakeholders (i.e. DPHE officials at district and thana level, representatives of other line ministries at thana level, and the UPs). Existing communication packages by -- for instance -- UNICEF or NGO Forum could be used and improved upon. The NGO would subsequently identify member NGOs at the local level to follow-up with UPs and the communities in information sessions, in which the purpose of the advertisement campaign and the rules for application would be outlined. Commitment fees. In order to demonstrate interest, the beneficiaries could be asked to pay a small non-refundable commitment fee to the UP which would be accounted for as contribution to the investment cost in case the scheme is being implemented. Other ways of ensuring sufficient interest of the beneficiaries to participate in the project will be explored during preparation. Community Mobilization and Application Process. Once beneficiaries have demonstrated their interest in participating in the project, DPHE would identify a local NGO from an already approved shortlist to assist the community in the decision-making and application process. The main objective of the community mobilization efforts would be for the community to identify their needs (i.e. community latrines, private household latrines, latrines for schools, orphanages, rural clinics, market places, etc.), to reach agreement on the level of service with consideration to expected cost contributions, to develop a sustainable mechanism for maintenance (i.e. the establishment of a - 8 - maintenance fund in the case of community latrines, outsourcing to a private sector entity for operation and maintenance, or labor contributions by community members), to draft implementation plans for the construction of the selected schemes, and to understand the obligations and procedures of the application process, including the necessity to form a legally accountable CBO and to open a banking account. Once the beneficiaries have come to an agreement about the level of services, the respective contributions, and the management of the community assets, their application would be forwarded to DPHE at district level, that -- after verification and cross-checking of the application -- would transfer funds directly to the beneficiaries' account. Implementation. Upon receipt of the funds, the beneficiaries' would procure the required materials, and, if applicable, get local contractors for the construction of the latrines (and water supply schemes). The contractors would be pre-qualified by DPHE. The beneficiaries would be asked to retain the bills of their expenditures and submit them to their UP. The UP would forward the documentation of expenditures to DPHE, along with an assessment of the progress of implementation to facilitate the release of the next tranche of funding to the beneficiaries. Hygiene and Environmental Education. The local NGO appointed to facilitate community mobilization will also help in the preparation and coordination of hygiene and environmental education through preliminary sessions/workshops, health fairs and other information dissemination activities, as well coordinating follow-up visits to completed schemes, as part of a continuous monitoring effort. Consolidation Phase. A period of about two months would be granted towards the end of each individual project cycle to assess the quality of construction, possible bottlenecks or shortfalls during implementation that would generate lessons learnt to be fed into the design of the next batch of districts to be covered, and for follow- up activities for Union Parishads and communities. DRAFT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN A tentative individual sub-project cycle is illustrated below. Implementation phases and time requirements for community mobilization may vary by sub-project. months 1st 2nd 3rd 4t 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th Preparatory Phase Information Dissemination Demonstration of 9 Interest Community Mobilization Application Process Implementation Hygiene Education Consolidation Phase 7. Sustainability The project would enhance sustainability in the delivery of water and sanitation services by clarifying roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders, increasing ownership of sanitation facilities, promoting a demand-driven, participatory, and affordable approach, introducing a cost- sharing concept, and putting high emphasis on O&M. Sustainability is, under the project, defined in terms of: (i) institutions, i.e. the continuation of roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders beyond the life of the project, including communities' increased responsibility for O&M and improved hygiene practices; (ii) technologies, i.e. the durability and adequacy of latrine designs with regard to the hydro-geological, environmental and social conditions, and maintenance and repair requirements; (iii) communities, i.e. the degree of mobilization required -- from the point of time of applying for funds, to the actual procurement of goods and services -- that could be applied to other activities that the community would like to undertake; and (iv) finance, in the sense that, even if the level of cost-sharing is low, it would be increased over the years until people and the country can become self-reliant. 8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector Lessons from other rural water and sanitation projects, undertaken both by the Bank and other donors, indicate that (i) maintenance of the latrines is one of the fundamental problems encountered in the majority of projects after construction work has been finalized; (ii) the benefits of using latrines are not always apparent to the beneficiaries; and (iii) improved hygiene practices and increased awareness about the vectors of disease transmission are critical to effect a reduction in waterborne diseases. The following design features are considered to be fundamental to address these problems encountered: (i) allowing the beneficiaries to decide on design and level of services creates ownership; (ii) a demand-driven approach with clearly defined eligibility criteria ensures transparency, sustainability and replicability, and pre- selects those beneficiaries that are committed to maintain and operate the physical infrastructure; (iii) allowing the beneficiaries to procure the services and material required for the facilities would reduce the degree of misappropriation. There are very few experiences in Bangladesh regarding the provision of sanitation, from which lessons could be drawn. One of Bangladesh's - 10 - probably most prominent rural aid agency has been UNICEF with long experience in the sector of rural water supply, child health, and school sanitation. Key lessons learnt from UNICEF's pilot school sanitation program are (i) school management committees are capable - - with provision of technical orientation -- to supervise construction work, and their involvement has improved the construction quality of the latrines; and (ii) beneficiaries have improved latrine design at their own expenses. One problem with UNICEF's implementation approach -- that still adheres to pre- selection as opposed to self-selection of the beneficiaries -- is that, unless sub-projects are closely supervised and beneficiaries continuously motivated by external aid workers, assets provided are not adequately maintained, posing questions regarding the sustainability of such investments. 9. Program of Targeted Intervention (PTI) No 10. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation) Issues : No major negative environmental issues are identified, since the project is designed to improve environmental and social conditions in Bangladesh. Though the project itself is designed to prevent or mitigate negative health and environmental impacts, the project may have potential negative impacts if it is not managed properly. Potential negative effects under the latrine component may arise from (i) inadequate disposal of human waste; (ii) seepage into the groundwater; and (iii) inadequate maintenance of facilities. This would be addressed during preparation through an environmental assessment, that would put emphasis on environmentally-sound practices for sludge disposal, criteria for site selection of latrines, adequate community-based operation and maintenance plans, an overall sensitization to environmental concerns in the community mobilization phase, and DPHE's institutional capacity to manage environmental issues. Under the component innovative sanitation and wastewater treatment schemes, generic feasibility assessments and, where necessary, environmental management plans would be prepared for each technology prior to implementation. Investments into duckweed-based wastewater treatment will require site specific feasibility studies. The overall feasibility of duckweed-based sewerage treatment is already ongoing, including environmental audits for ten demonstration sites, and five pre-feasibility assessments that analyze the effectiveness of such systems for pollution reduction, and suitability of treated water and harvested duckweed for fish-farming. 11. Contact Points: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Task Managers Kirsten Hommann and Toshiaki Keicho The World Bank - 11 - 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458 1930 and 458 5159 Fax: (202) 522-2418 Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain activities and/or components may not be included in the final project. Processed by the Infoshop week ending October 22, 1999. - 12 - Annex Because this is a Category B project, it may be required that the borrower prepare a separate EA report. If a separate EA report is required, once it is prepared and submitted to the Bank, in accordance with OP 4.01, Environmental Assessment, it will be filed as an annex to the Public Information Document (PID) . If no separate EA report is required, the PID will not contain an EA annex; the findings and recommendations of the EA will be reflected in the body of the PID. - 13 -