The Network of Local Authorities, NGOs, CBOs & International Agencies for Waste Management

Programmes

Background 

Urban population in Bangladesh has been growing fast over the last few decades. One of the consequences of this rapid  growth is a tremendous increase in the generation of waste. Even at present, our major cities can hardly cope with the problem of disposing ever-increasing amount of garbage. In  one of the studies of Waste Concern, it has been found that at  present all the cities and towns of Bangladesh generate 17,000 tons of waste per day and within 25 years, the waste generation will reach 47,064 tons per day.  Urban centers will obviously choke under deteriorating environmental condition envisioned: in future unless appropriate policies and strategies are envisioned immediately. It is unlikely that government agencies alone would be able to tackle this problem. A combined effort by NGOs, External Support Agencies  Institutional Member; (ESAs), entrepreneurs and communities is essentially needed.

The Need for Networking 

Fortunately, some NGOs, CBOs, ESAs and entrepreneurs have already come forward with innovative strategies to deal  with the growing solid waste problem. These initiatives include door-to-door garbage collection, community based composting, recycling, research, etc. A lot of valuable lessons have been learnt in carrying out these activities.  However, these efforts are disjointed and there is no effective Participation in  mechanism to learn from one another. A regional workshop  on solid waste management organized by Waste Concern was held in Dhaka in February 2000 where the participants from neighboring countries provided a wealth of experiences. They also strongly voiced the need to have a platform to Bangladesh and share their ideas and experience. In order to address this need, Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia of the World  Bank and Waste Concern have formed a partnership to establish 'WasteNet Bangladesh'.

Goals of 'WasteNet Bangladesh’

'WasteNet Bangladesh' is a non-profit, non-partisan professional organization. It will act as a “one-stop-shop” for knowledge, experience and training, catering to the needs of waste management practitioners from public, private and local government bodies. The network will also be a pressure group advocating the need for formulating appropriate policies in the sector.

Structure of 'WasteNet Bangladesh' 

The network will be administered and implemented by the following three institutional components, which are made up  of representatives of public and private sectors, GOs, NGOs  and international agencies.

• A voluntary advisory group for providing overall guidance to the network;
• A voluntary executive committee for providing detailed guidance and support; and
• A funded secretariat for providing service to members.

Members of the Executive Committee

The founder Executive Committee members are:

• Mr. A. H. Md. Maqsood Sinha, Urban Planner-Architect, Waste Concern.
• Mr. Iftekhar Enayetullah, Civil Engineer-Urban Planner, Waste Concern.
• Mr. Shafiul Azam Ahmed, Environmental Engineer, Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia, The World Bank.
• Dr. Tanveer Ahsan, Environmental Engineer, Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia, The World Bank.
• Mr. Tariq Bin Yousuf, Civil-Environmental Engineer, Dhaka City Corporation
• Mr. Shah Monirul Kabir, Sociologist.

The terms of this committee is 3 (three) years with effect from16 June, 2001.

Who Can Become Members

Bangladeshi citizens or organizations working in Bangladesh (public, private, NGOs, CBOs and international agencies) may become members of the network.

Membership Category

Five types of membership with varying qualifications are envisioned:

• Associate Individual/Associate Institutional Member;
• Individual member;
• Institutional Member;
• Student Member; and
• Affiliated Individual/Affiliated Institutional Member.

Benefits of Membership

Members of all categories of ' WasteNet Bangladesh' will enjoy the following range of benefits:

• Free subscription to official newsletters and journals of WasteNet Bangladesh';
• Participation in WasteNet training courses, workshops and seminars at discounted rate;
• Getting professional advice on waste management;
• Access to library facility and database of  'WasteNet Bangladesh'; and
• Full members will have voting rights and may be elected to join special purpose committees.

Upcoming Activities

• Organizing consultative meetings on various waste management related topics;
• Forming a think tank for guiding policies and strategies;
• Establishing a resource center to house publications from Bangladesh and abroad for use by the members that will act as a repository of information;
• Compiling a directory of 'who is doing what' in solid waste management in Bangladesh
• Publishing quarterly newsletters;
• Organizing conferences for wider dissemination; and
• Maintaining linkage with similar organizations around the world for information sharing and collaborative works.