Attaining the status of a role model for its neighbours, Bangladesh has become an open defecation free country from 34 percent to 99 percent sanitation coverage in the last decade, said representatives of South Asian countries at a discussion yesterday.

The discussion titled “Beyond Just Toilets – Fast Tracking an Open Defecation Free South Asia”, organised by Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Foundation India and Geneva based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, was held at Hotel Sonargaon on the occasion of “The 6th South Asian Conference on Sanitation” (SACOSAN-VI) that starts today at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).

With the slogan “Better Sanitation, Better life”, more than 500 delegates and participants from different corners of South Asia will participate in the conference, organised by the Local Government Division (LGD) of Bangladesh.