Access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation and hygiene is a basic human right, including access to toilets. Yet, more than 1.5 billion people worldwide lack good sanitation services, such as private toilets or latrines. In fact, the UN reports that 419 million people are subjected to open defecation.

This issue is particularly challenging in low-income areas, where poor sanitation leads to various negative impacts. These include health risks such as cholera, diarrhea, and intestinal worms, as well as a complete lack of dignity that leads to sanitation impacting education and employment opportunities. Moreover, marginalized groups, including women, children, refugees, indigenous peoples, and people with disabilities, often face neglect and discrimination in accessing suitable sanitation facilities.  

In Bangladesh, especially in low-income and urban areas, access to public toilets has been scarce. For example, in the country’s capital, Dhaka, which has a population of over 20 million, only 49 public toilets are available. To make matters worse, most of these facilities remain unusable due to inefficient facility management, poor hygiene and maintenance, and safety concerns. While Bangladesh has made significant progress in improving access to water and sanitation services and almost eliminating open-air defecation, more efforts are still needed to achieve universal sanitation access across the country.

One notable individual who is on a mission to solve Bangladesh’s public toilet crisis is Farhana Rashid, one of the 2024 winners of the Waislitz Global Citizen Award.

Through her organization, Bhumijo, she has made remarkable efforts to solve the country’s public toilet crisis and improve public health and sanitation in Bangladesh’s low-income areas.

Growing up in Bangladesh, Rashid vividly remembers the stigma surrounding discussions about the poor conditions of public toilets in her home country. She witnessed challenges her female relatives, including her mother and aunt, would face in comparison to the men when it came to accessing public toilets without feeling safe. Often, the women in her family would avoid drinking too much water to prevent needing to use the public toilets, which resulted in health problems. 

Rashid shared: “ If you want to talk to any Bangladeshi woman or Bangladeshi girl, you will find that they had to come back to their home to use the toilet because of not having a good quality toilet in the public space, so they did not complete their work, they had to travel back home because there was nothing for them [by way of sanitation access]. It’s pretty common for women, and sometimes men, sometimes families, to have to come back home. So that doesn’t allow many women, men, or people to move freely in public.” 

The tragic passing of her aunt due to kidney failure ignited Rashid's passion for activism and spurred her into action. Reflecting on this devastating loss, she shared: 

“One of my family members passed away due to a lack of drinking water. She had recurrent UTIs (urinary tract infections) and finally passed away due to kidney failure. It was a huge burden on our family, causing significant mental and financial strain. This experience inspired me to take action and do whatever I can."

Motivated by this personal experience, as well as a deep desire to serve her community, Rashid founded the social enterprise Bhumijo in 2016,  with a mission to solve Bangladesh’s public toilet crisis and improve public health and sanitation.

Bhumijo supplies low-income areas with access to hygienic, inclusive, and affordable smart toilets. Rashid’s enterprise goes above and beyond when it comes to the needs of Bangladeshi communities, as it also offers additional amenities including showers, clean drinking water, and laundry services. 

Prioritizing sustainable accessibility, Bhumijo has made these services accessible through both subscription and pay-per-use. Right now, Bhumijo manages 43 toilet facilities in low-income areas in Bangladesh serving over 2 million people, including women and disabled people with a focus on inclusivity and dignity. 

Rashid’s background in architecture and planning has been crucial for Bhumijo’s success, aiding in the design of culturally appropriate sanitation solutions in Bangladesh. She told Global Citizen that Western-based teachings on toilet design — which she learned about while obtaining a primary degree in architecture and a Master’s in Sustainable Urban Planning and Design at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden — didn’t always align with cultural norms in Bangladesh. 

For instance, Rashid explained that unisex toilets aren’t the norm in Bangladesh; instead, they’re more of a norm in Western countries. At university, she was taught through a Western lens how to build toilets, which didn’t always apply to the culture and traditions in Bangladesh. She had to consider that when building toilets in Bangladesh for women’s safety and privacy. 

When asked about the reason behind the lack of public toilet access in Bangladesh, Rashid explained:  “Bangladesh has made great strides in economic development, but we still lack some basic urban services. We’ve had our independence for almost 50 years; during the earlier times, we didn’t have enough money, food, and resources. However, we have gradually been able to meet most of our basic needs, such as food and shelter. With the increase of urbanization and industrialization, cities have become crowded. Still, the infrastructure and urban services like public toilets, public spaces, and public transport have not been put in place to accommodate that.”

She added: “Dhaka alone has 20 million people in a 237-square kilometer area,  you can see how crowded it is and we only have a few usable toilets. So that’s why the problem is so big. It’s also very hard for the urban poor and climate migrants. Women in most cases are left out, along with children and people with disabilities.”  

Rashid also highlighted how climate change has aggravated the toilet crisis in Bangladesh and how Bhumijo is working to address the issue. 

“Many of our customers are migrants who have been displaced due to climate-induced events such as flooding and other climate-related issues. Additionally, our surveys have shown that many of our clients are affected by climate issues in some way,” she explained. 

Considering these factors, the Bhumijo team are working to make their sanitation solutions more resilient to climate challenges. 

She continued: “We are designing our toilets to better withstand flooding and implementing water-saving systems such as rainwater harvesting. We are also focusing on reducing waste and reusing water whenever possible. When selecting locations for our facilities, we prioritize areas that are not prone to flooding. We are also actively promoting water conservation and awareness to help mitigate the effects of climate change. However, managing all these climate-responsive designs can sometimes be expensive, so we are still looking for different solutions.” 

Above all, Rashid is fueled by the resilience and positivity that oozes from the Bangladeshi people, who, she noted, have a sense of limitless hope. 
"Despite challenges, the people of Bangladesh never lose hope. They are resilient and continually strive to overcome adversity."

A memorable achievement for Rashid was in 2017 when Bhumijo created Bangladesh’s first women-only toilet at Gausia Market in Dhaka. She shared: “Our first toilet was for women only. It was located in a crowded market [Gausia Market in Dhaka] where the majority of customers were women. Approximately 100,000 people visit this place every day, and during vacations, holidays, or festivals, the number of women visiting exceeds 100,000.”

“We conducted a survey and found that women needed women-only toilets,” explained Rashid. “The existing facilities were mostly for men, and women had to pass through the urinals to reach the women’s toilets. This discouraged women from using the toilets. We then approached the housing association, mostly men, and explained the situation to them. They initially dismissed the idea, stating that women didn’t need the toilet facilities.” 

She continued: “At the last moment, I requested the association members to allow us to renovate and operate the women-only toilets for just one month. We proposed they could have their people monitor the usage during this time. If women didn’t use the toilets, we would revert the changes. After some convincing, they agreed to allow us to renovate the toilets. Within one month, the demand for women’s toilets had increased so much that the same team asked us to renovate the men’s toilet. After the introduction of our toilets, the number of women using the facilities in that area increased.”

Farhana Rashid is one of this year’s Waislitz Global Citizen Award winners (nabbing the Waislitz Global Citizens' Choice title), a prize that spotlights remarkable changemakers taking exceptional actions in the fight against extreme poverty. With this award, Rashid has received $300,000 to put towards her work on Bhumijo and to further its impact. The award and cash prize will help Bhumijo’s growth, as the enterprise aims to expand its reach to 3 million people (an increase from the current 2 million people) by 2025.

“I'm very grateful to Global Citizen,” she said. “This recognition is for our entire team, not just me. We believe our mission aligns with Global Citizen’s, and our model can be replicated globally. We hope to connect with like-minded individuals and organizations through Global Citizen who can provide different forms of support, including technology and expertize to help us serve more people. Our goal is to prevent others from suffering [and] to expand our impact."