The non-profit company was established in 2007 as an autonomous financial institution licensed under section 28 of the Companies Act, 1994 to mobilize resources and extend financial support to Local Government Institutions from a dedicated HYSAWA . HYSAWA works alongside the Government of Bangladesh to contribute towards reaching SDG targets and national commitments on poverty reduction through WA
SH interventions. The HYSAWA company emerged as a project of the Governments’ of Bangladesh and Denmark, following over 20 years of development cooperation in the WatSan sector. Since 2010 HYSAWA has also received funding from the Government of Australia. HYSAWA is guided by a Governing Board chaired by the Secretary, Local Government Division of the Government of Bangladesh, with representatives from the Department of Public Health and Engineering (DPHE), Ministry of Finance, civil society, development partners, and local government representatives. The Board provides policy and strategic direction following the Memorandum and Articles of Association, approved by the Registrar of the Companies and agreements signed with respective donors. HYSAWA operations are overseen by a Managing Director with support from three Directors and small number of supporting professional staff. HYSAWA is primarily responsible for fund administration, technical supervision, overall monitoring, quality assurance and audit. Field level operations are implemented directly by Union Parishads with support from qualified partner organizations and technical advisors from DPHE. The organization is monitored externally by the Government of Bangladesh and Donors to ensure that lessons learned are being documented and that there is an external oversight of the progress and experiences gained through the HYSAWA model.
