NEWS

2021.11.17

The 38th AJI Frontier Seminar on "Drinking Water Supply Sector and Ease of Entry by NGOs in Rural Bangladesh: A Case Study from Southwest Coastal Area"

On November 9, 2021, the 38th AJI Research Frontier Seminar took place online. This time, Mr. Shota Yamada, a doctoral student at the Graduate School of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University delivered a presentation on an important issue entitled "Drinking Water Supply Sector and Ease of Entry by NGOs in Rural Bangladesh: A Case Study from Southwest Coastal Area", in English.

NGOs are the main actors of development in Bangladesh which is facing a severe drinking water crisis. Previous studies lacked insight into how NGOs make decisions involving the drinking water sector and what kinds of skills and knowledges they have for solving drinking water problems in rural Bangladesh. Due to COVID-19, Mr. Yamada investigated the activities of local NGOs by a proxy survey in Shyamnagar Upazila a rural area in south-west Bangladesh. He found that due to ease of entry in this sector, NGOs with no expertise in drinking water supply became involved with adverse effects such as the abandonment of drinking water facilities, insufficient maintenance, and intolerable drinking water quality.

After the presentation, the participants discussed the effectiveness of water purification systems, why such facilities were abandoned, and why NGOs and not local governments took the initiative. Mr. Yamada enlightened his audience with well-informed answers citing a lack of skills and funds amongst the rural beneficiaries and their local offices.

Shota Yamada delivering his presentation

Please visit the following link for previous AJI Frontier Seminars:
https://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/research/aji/young_researcher/seminar/archive/