The Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) in India has entered into agreements with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support the Swachh Bharat Clean India Mission. This initiative, launched by the Government of India on October 2, 2014, aims to improve sanitation across urban areas in the country.
The MoUD signed a Memorandum of Understanding with USAID and a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These agreements focus on providing sustainable sanitation solutions, eliminating open defecation, and ensuring safe waste management.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will offer technical and management assistance for implementing the urban sanitation program. This includes establishing a national Program Management Unit within the MoUD.
USAID's role involves creating a knowledge partnership with MoUD to identify best practices, enhance technical capacity, and promote public-private partnerships centered on sanitation. USAID will also connect this effort to India's "Smart Cities" initiative to emphasize water and sanitation as vital components of sustainable urban development.
Shri Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development, commented on this collaboration: “The Swachh Bharat Mission seeks to realize the Government’s vision of a clean and developed India by 2019. We will work together with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USAID to ensure every city and town in India has a world-class, affordable waste management system. The provision of safe sanitation is critical in bolstering public health and environmental outcomes for all of India’s urban population – particularly women and the poor.”
Girindre Beeharry from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation stated: “At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation we believe that overcoming India’s sanitation challenge is critical to enable every child, no matter where they live, to survive and thrive. We salute the ambition of the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission and are excited to cement our partnership with MoUD and USAID.”
John Beed from USAID added: “USAID is honored to be supporting the Swachh Bharat Clean India Campaign... We are committed to working with various partners such as states, cities, private sector entities, and others like the Gates Foundation."
According to World Bank estimates, diarrheal diseases due to inadequate sanitation cause over 200,000 deaths annually in India. The Swachh Bharat Mission targets a cleaner nation by 2019 through these collaborative efforts.