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Exclusive Interview with the Daily Observer

Professor Juliet Willetts stresses on gender, equity, inclusive sanitation

Published : Sunday, 2 March, 2025 at 12:00 AM  Count : 460
Tanvir Raihan
Professor Juliet Willetts, Professor at the Institute for Sustainable Futures, University of Technology Sydney, attended the Toilet Conference 2025 in Dhaka. Hosted by WaterAid Bangladesh and held from February 25 to 26, she delivered a keynote address where she shared her expertise on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), emphasizing climate resilience, governance, gender equality, and public health.

Professor Willetts conducts applied research to improve development policy and practice, addressing social justice and supporting sustainable development. She is a recognised expert on water and sanitation in Asia and the Pacific, and has made significant contributions to gender equality, climate resilience, governance and accountability, urban development, monitoring, evaluation and development effectiveness. She gave an interview to the Daily Observer and talked about gender, equity and inclusive sanitation. Her interview was taken by Tanvir Raihan.

She has received six professional awards for research excellence, the 2024 IWA Gender, Diversity in Water Award and has been listed in the Australian Financial Review's '100 Most Influential Women'. She was at a two-day Toilet Conference in Dhaka, discussing the future of sanitation. Currently, She is a professor and research director at the Institute for Sustainable Futures at the University of Technology Sydney.

Following is the excerpt of her interview:
Daily Observer: You have cultivated a distinguished career in the fields of water, sanitation, and international development. What motivated you to pursue these particular areas? Could you share a pivotal moment or experience that significantly influenced your commitment to sustainable sanitation?

Professor Willetts: The first motivation came from a trip from I use to 12 and my parent took a family to India and we stayed very close to a informal settlement and so people are living like they are rebooting road, people are living in very big drain pipe. And just horrible and terrible condition in terms of sanitation and I through this was now right. And i stayed with me from their on. So I went there and made a lot of efforts for this sanitation. And when I came here, I was overwhelmed. Because people are returning to health awareness. So we came to help them.

Daily Observer: As a keynote speaker at the Toilet Conference 2025, what principal message do you intend to convey? In your opinion, what are the most pressing global challenges currently facing the sanitation sector? How can governments and non-governmental organizations collaborate effectively to expedite progress toward universal access to clean water and sanitation?

Professor Willetts: So biggest challenge of I way this progress of really slow. We need to spread up and spread up to many to work have high levels and have much stronger political will from leaders from mess from leaders national level and so I think a civil society organization need to working multiple ways but particularly to built interest from public from citizen. Because I need citizen demand from leaders sanitation is basic and want to sanitary environment. Then leader feels to build yes this is something. I need to deliver to my society. I think civil society compile rule to build public awareness and to make create a leader. This is something, that is absolutely has to happen very short time.

Daily Observer: Your research underscores the importance of gender equality in water and sanitation initiatives. In what ways does inadequate sanitation disproportionately impact women and girls? What policies or initiatives do you propose to help bridge the gender gap in access to safe sanitation facilities?

Professor Willetts: So at the moment, woman and girls most affected public because of women rules and hassle, traditional rules. I think in the future the rules will be more share and both men and women will be impacted we do not have sanitation services so what I think need to change is the women need to brought in to decision to leadership rules and when abuse heard and we have greater equality between women and men then the situation also change for water and sanitation.

Daily Observer: In light of the increasing frequency of climate-related disasters, how should sanitation infrastructure be modified to ensure resilience? What innovative, climate-friendly sanitation solutions can be implemented by countries such as Bangladesh?

Professor Willetts: So for climate resilience in ruler areas we can do many easy modification to technology to make a stronger to make it lifted of a ground in areas of flood or a make it quickly terrible. This is not so difficult . In urban areas I feel we need to may must be biggest changes, At the moment we have event temple have a sanitation system . I have septic tank often it's connected to drink and that what a going inter rainy not yes a going a claim. And so there are some things we can do instead to work at area base scale. Not a having sanitation at hassle may be not trust at city scale because that is extremely expensive . But in between their technology now we can tactile waste from whole area with in a city in quarrel small space. And these are think technology we need for the future we need the now far also the come the tragedians.

Daily Observer: What role do you envision for technology in the transformation of sanitation systems, particularly within developing nations? What policy recommendations would you put forth to enhance sustainable sanitation efforts in Bangladesh?
Professor Willetts: I think policies firstly to see sanitation as public service should be for everyone. That's number one, but also public service does not main government has to deliver everything. There is a really important out of the Private sector particularly. In technological innovation, And to be a partner to the public sector. So I think polices should loud and support that innovation and the engagement from the private sector. I also think policies need better a aciculate responsibilities and accountabilities. Because at the moment without these we cannot for anything we cannot make sure the services delivered.

Daily Observer: Looking ahead over the next decade, what significant advancements do you anticipate in the global sanitation sector? What message would you like to communicate to policymakers, researchers, and the citizens of Bangladesh regarding the importance of sanitation and sustainable development?

Professor Willetts: So future advancement in the sanitation sector I think who be firstly around circularity. Sanitation often uses water. It does not have to but often does and that water that become wishful is a pressure and pressure resource. And we go to the future I think necessarily have to close the loops because we need that pressure fresh water and we also need to nutrients. Their phosphorus in the waste and phosphorus in the moment waiting the ground and it fine art resource run out it become more expensive and again waste water come provide as a resources.

Another future advancement, I think could be digitalization. That going to main we can better monsoon going on remotely in deferent places. But environmental sensing but also both going on human society and harmfully that co provide feed back loops help us improve crevasses and term my massive massages just I think every clovers have moral ethical responsibility to ensure everyone in population has very basic service. Sanitation and order supply and I think all of us should focus not on the problems. Because problems are very big, and I confused other rooming, we should focus on we can do. Each one of us, interview do. They have some rains influence and we should take that, stayed to they is influential as we can what ever position each.


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