UPM is proud to announce its participation in the City-Wide Inclusive Sanitation Technical Assistance Hub for South Asia (hereafter “TA Hub”) partners’ consortium. Both entities have signed a Memorandum of Understanding facilitating further cooperation for offering technical assistance to various Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector clients and relevant projects in the region. The cooperation is aiming at delivering transformative, innovative and pioneering solutions to bridge gaps identified in WSH projects. Initial cooperation with the TA Hub included backstopping and technical review for a FS and Waste management and treatment project in Nepal.

The TA Hub, managed by the Bangladeshi company DevConsultants Limited, is a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Focusing on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on Clean Water and Sanitation (SDG 6), and more specifically the target No. 6.2, the concept of the Project is based on the objective that “Everyone in a city benefits from equitable, safely managed sanitation services, by an authority mandated to ensure services are delivered irrespective of the technologies— sewered or not—or business models used to reach service targets”. The services will initially cover Bangladesh and Nepal and will be provided to governments (national and city levels), development banks and other development partners.

As part of the Technical Assistance assignment to WASH and Emergency grantees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the Middle-East, Africa and Asia and other clients’ assignments, UPM has been actively working in Bangladesh in the last five years. Latest assignments include technical assistance to the WASH Technical Working group of the Rohingya crisis response in Cox’s Bazar and the related governmental departments and, a feasibility study of Integrated Waste Management facility in Bhola Island under Coastal Town Environmental Infrastructure Project (CTEIP project: https://www.adb.org/projects/44212-013/main).

We are very happy to be joining the TA Hub in their mission to bring more sustainable and universal sanitation solutions in South Asia. We hope that our country knowledge and experiences, as well as our technological expertise will be able to make the difference on how the sanitation value chain is designed and implemented to benefit the most vulnerable populations. “ said Martin Dilger, UPM Managing Director.

Typically, investments focus on installing infrastructures, but fail to prioritize adequate planning, market development, capacity building, and designing of service models (among others) to ensure long term sustainability. Our mission is to remedy to that system failure thanks to the contribution of very qualified and experienced professional partners such as UPM. “ commented by Ashreya Shrestha, COO – TA Hub.

For more information about the TA Hub, please contact ashreya(a)tahub.org

For more information about the UPM Professional Consulting and Technical Assistance services, please check our website : www.upm-cdm.eu, or contact us: info(a)upm-cdm.eu