Dignity can't wait

Sanitation*: beyond the missed targets

Our CEO, Jo, reflects on the state of sanitation as we approach the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 deadline.

The latest Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) progress report has landed, and it makes for sobering reading. We are not on track.

3.4 billion people still lack safely managed sanitation. 1.7 billion don’t have access to basic hygiene services at home. 427 million children go to schools without toilets or handwashing facilities. To reach universal coverage by 2030, the World Health Organization warns that progress would need to quadruple.

In Bangladesh, more than 23 million lack basic sanitation. Almost three out of ten children are living in multidimensional poverty without decent housing — housing that should protect and provide. These figures are vast. But they are also deeply personal. In the rural northwest region where AzuKo works, women and girls carry the weight of this crisis: missed schooling during menstruation, illness from waterborne diseases, the constant risks of finding a safe space to go to the toilet.

“We say our work is about housing, but it always comes back to the basics — a toilet, a tap, a safe place to wash.”

I recently attended the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance meeting and World Water Week conference in Stockholm. Sitting among policy makers, engineers, activists, and community leaders the conversations circled the same hard truth: we will not reach the targets by 2030. Yet there was no sense of defeatism. Instead, there was urgency and questioning — what comes next?

35th SuSanA Meeting © GIZ GmbH / Ashley Perl

Again and again, the answers pointed to women. For too long, sanitation systems have been designed for communities, but not by them — and certainly not by women. And yet, it is women who manage households, and who suffer most when sanitation systems fail. When women are truly involved in decision-making, financing and building, entire communities are lifted. Their insights bring new perspectives on safety, privacy, dignity, and menstrual hygiene — and how to design effective sanitation systems to address these challenges.

Conversations also emphasised how sanitation must adapt to the climate crisis. In Bangladesh, rising seas, salt-contaminated water, floods, cyclones and heatwaves are not abstract theories. They are here, and they are disproportionately affecting the poorest in society. Sanitation must be climate-resilient — not just functional for today, but able to withstand tomorrow.

And while policy makers debate, communities are already leading. Sanitation systems that endure are those rooted in local skills and knowledge. When communities drive development, systems are maintained and replicated.

Governments and funders face a choice. Sanitation is too often treated as a niche. But it’s not niche — it is central. If you say you care about climate adaptation, you must care about sanitation: floods destroy toilets and contaminate water sources. If you say you care about girls’ education, you must care about sanitation: a girl cannot stay in school without a private toilet. If you say you care about women’s empowerment, you must care about sanitation: equality cannot be claimed while 84% still report harassment in public spaces, and the simple act of using a toilet exposes them to risk.

Only a quarter of countries are on track to achieve their sanitation targets. Two-thirds spend less than half of what is needed to meet these targets. Globally, aid is being squeezed — redirected to defence, geopolitical conflicts, and climate mitigation. All urgent, all necessary. But every time sanitation slips further down the list, it is women and girls who pay the price.

“Cutting funding for sanitation is not neutral. It’s a decision to accept that women and girls will continue to live without safety, without dignity, without opportunity. ”

Funding sanitation is not charity — it is justice. And justice demands more than infrastructure. It requires capacity building, systems that last, behaviour change, and above all, leadership by women.

At AzuKo, we see this daily. Toilets co-designed by women are safer, better maintained, and used with pride. A water point closer to home is not simply convenience — it is hours freed each day. Hours that restore choice.

Beyond 2030?

For AzuKo it means continuing to integrate water, sanitation and hygiene into everything we do — not as an add-on to housing, but as the very foundation of a decent life. When I think of the future we are building, I don’t see numbers. I see a girl who stays in school. A mother living in good health. A grandmother who no longer fears searching for a place to go to the toilet at night.

That is progress worth fighting for.

I’m grateful for the chance to share these perspectives in Stockholm. But the real leadership is not in these conference halls. It is in the homesteads of rural Bangladesh, where women are already shaping a more dignified future — one toilet at a time.

Read about AzuKo’s work delivering Decent toilets →

* Sanitation refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and faeces.

DATA SOURCES

• United Nations (2025), The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025

• WHO/UNICEF JMP (2021), Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000-2020: Five Years into the SDGs

• WHO/UNICEF JMP (2024), Data: Households/Bangladesh/Sanitation

• GED, Government of Bangladesh (2025), National Multidimensional Poverty Index for Bangladesh

• UN-Women (2024), Transparency Portal: Bangladesh

• UN-Water/WHO (2022), Strong Systems and Sound Investments: Evidence on and Key Insights into Accelerating Progress on Sanitation, Drinking-water and Hygiene

• UN-Water GLAAS (2021), Data portal: Key findings/finance

Amena's kitchen of hope

Sitting down with Amena in her home, the first thing we notice is how alive the place feels.

Strings of onions hang in neat clusters from the roof. Garlic dries on the floor. In one corner, a mound of potatoes waits for market; in another, a sewing machine stands ready for work. The walls are patched with colourful landscapes cut from old calendars, bringing the world indoors. Every inch of space is used with care and purpose.

Amena lives in a village in rural northwest Bangladesh with her two sons. She’s a skilled tailor, making clothes for her family and selling salwar kameez to her neighbours. Her community is a close-knit mix of Hindu and Muslim families who celebrate together and look out for each other. Most earn their living as agricultural day labourers — a life of hard work for little pay.

All around the village, tall chimneys from brick factories rise above the fields. These traditional, outdated kilns burn coal and wood, releasing thick black smoke into the air. The pollution damages crops, contaminates soil, and worsens the already fragile climate. Farmers like Amena struggle to grow staples such as rice because the falling ash and poor air quality damage the plants before they can mature.

Amena’s life has been shaped by loss and resilience. In 2017, while she was in the capital Dhaka receiving treatment for cancer, floods swept through her village, destroying her home. They rebuilt what they could, but their house remained fragile. Then, in 2021, tragedy struck again — Amena’s husband died, taking with him not only her life partner but the family’s main source of income. She sold everything she could — belongings, animals, land — just to survive.

“I had no financial support at the time. I learned if I have to do something, I can stand by myself. I just need the opportunity.”

That opportunity came when Amena joined AzuKo’s construction training. Using her new skills, she has built a stronger, safer kitchen — one that has transformed her daily life. She invested 6,000 BDT (£53) of her own money into the project, determined to contribute to her family’s future.

Her new kitchen is a far cry from the crumbling, smoky space she once cooked in. It now has solid foundations, crossbracing, and strong joints. There’s an electric stove, lights to cook under at night, a water station, and room to gather.

It’s the heart of the home — a place to talk, do homework, share meals and welcome guests.

Gone are the days of collecting firewood, breathing in smoke, and preparing meals on an unhygienic earth floor. Cooking is easier, faster, and safer. Amena now has more time to spend with her children and on her land, where she raises cows and chickens, and harvests rice and corn.

She has also joined a women’s savings group, supported by AzuKo. Every month, she puts aside a small amount, knowing she can access a low-interest loan if disaster strikes again. This safety net has given her peace of mind for the first time in years.

Amena’s dream is simple yet powerful,

“I can’t dream for myself — only for my children. I want them to get a good education and have a better life.”

She hopes one day to buy her own land and build a new, forever home, using everything she’s learned.

With your support, more women like Amena can turn hardship into hope. Give what you can, today →

Coronavirus – a message from our Founder

We are facing a situation that is unprecedented in our lifetime. The outbreak of COVID-19, a new strain of coronavirus, is affecting people across the globe but it will undoubtedly hit the most vulnerable in our societies the hardest.

As much of the developed world shuts down in the face of the virus, millions in Bangladesh are ill-equipped to deal with what is to come.

Simple prevention measures such as handwashing with soap and social distancing are near impossible in slums which are densely crowded, with poor access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Those living in poverty do not have savings to buy the necessary soap or sanitiser. Many are day labourers, if they do not work they do not get paid, and there is no safety net. The knock-on effects of a lockdown will almost certainly lead to extreme food shortages.

With only one COVID-19 testing facility for a population of 168 million, located in the capital Dhaka, cases remain undetected. Hospitals are without PPE, and I have been informed many clinics are turning people away and refusing to treat those with cold and pneumonia symptoms.

There is also a serious issue of misinformation, with rumours spreading about how to protect yourself against the virus using local methods such as eating raw garlic or drinking alcohol.

AzuKo has been working with vulnerable communities in Bangladesh for many years. We will do everything we can to support them now. We have launched an emergency appeal to protect those in acute poverty.

I know this is a difficult time for us all but if you are in a position to give – no matter how small – please do. Help us share virus prevention guidance, provide protective equipment and deliver vital hygiene supplies.

Here's how your donation will save lives:

• £29 pays for community banners sharing best practice, e.g. hand washing, social distancing

• £84 provides 300 x bars of soap, enough to protect a small village

• £125 provides 15 x protective equipment (face mask, gloves, hand sanitiser, apron) for our frontline staff

Read more about our COVID-19 response.

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AzuKo is going to be under extreme pressure over the coming months. It is becoming harder for us to raise the vital income needed to keep our charity going.

The postponement of major fundraising events, such as the London Marathon, is having a big impact. Because of social distancing restrictions we're not able to raise support directly with the public. Our corporate partners are feeling the strain, and trusts are overwhelmed by requests for help. If you can support AzuKo by increasing your current regular gift, or making a small one-off gift it will help us continue our vital work during the crisis, and beyond.

Thank you as ever for your continued support. Please look after yourself and those around you.

With gratitude,

Jo Ashbridge

Founder & CEO, AzuKo