health

“World Toilet Day” No Joke for Billions Without Sanitation

An open drainage ditch in Madagascar. Credit: Lova Rabary-Rakontondravony/IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 16 2013 (IPS) – The United Nations has a longstanding tradition of commemorating political milestones like the abolition of the slave trade or sustaining day-long vigils on controversial issues such as a ban on nuclear tests.

The annual events have covered a wide range of political, social and economic issues on a 24-hour timeline, including World Cancer Day, World Press Freedom Day, World Refugee Day, World AIDS Day, World Population Day and World Water Day.”An environment that lacks sanitation and clean water is an environment where achieving other development goals is an impossible dream.” — Dr. Chris Williams

But for some unaccountable reason, the United Nations continued to sidestep a growing problem facing over 2.5 billion people: lack of adequate sanitation.

So last July, the 193-member U.N. General Assemby (UNGA) adopted a resolution, initiated by Singapore, to declare Nov. 19 , the first-ever in the 68-year history of the United Nations.

The name is catchy and humourous, says the statement by Singapore, But it serves to capture the public s attention, and focus on the challenges of sanitation and toilets.

The resolution, which was co-sponsored by 121 member states, calls for greater attention to the global sanitation crisis through the commemoration of World Toilet Day next week.

Asked why sanitation has remained a neglected goal in the U.N. s development agenda, Mark Neo, deputy permanent represent of Singapore to the United Nations, told IPS sanitation was not originally included in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and was agreed upon in the 2002 Rio+10 conference in Johannesburg, for inclusion.

More importantly, sanitation is not just about toilets and infrastructure, it is about social and behavioural changes which cannot be achieved overnight and will take time, he said.
Related IPS Articles

Despite these obstacles, much progress has been made. Since 1990, 1.8 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation, and the number of people who practice open defecation has been reduced by 272 million, he pointed out.

However, the sad reality is that one billion people still practice open defecation and 2.5 billion do not have adequate sanitation facilities, Neo said.

Against this backdrop, Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson s recent Call to Action on Sanitation and the consensus adoption of the resolution on World Toilet Day are timely and useful in highlighting the need to make progress on the continuing challenge of sanitation, he added.

Dr. Chris Williams, executive director of the Geneva-based Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), told IPS sanitation and hygiene are motors which drive health, social and economic development around the world.

An environment that lacks sanitation and clean water is an environment where achieving other development goals is an impossible dream. The time to act is now, he added.

In its campaign to help resolve the world s sanitation crisis, the government of Singapore is partnering with the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), a Singapore-based NGO, founded in 2001, with 534 members, who are mostly local toilet associations.

WTO founder Jack Sim (known affectionately as Mr Toilet ) will be at the United Nations to take part in the commemoration.

When we were children, our parents told not to talk about (poo), Sim told IPS. This is a really serious problem. What you don t talk about, you cannot improve.

Fleur Anderson, head of campaigns at the London-based WaterAid, told IPS next week s commemoration is not just the creation of yet another U.N. Day , but a strong sign that governments recognise that toilets-for-all is essential for saving children s lives.

We ll certainly be working with others to use World Toilet Day to draw the attention of governments to the enormous scale of the problem, Anderson said.

WaterAid will also be launching a report next week, jointly with the WSSCC and Unilever, highlighting the huge impact sanitation has on women s lives and calling for a collaborative approach between governments, civil society and business to get the MDG sanitation target halving the number of people without adequate sanitation back on track.

Emma Pfister, manager of social media and partnerships at Water for People, told IPS it is not enough to keep throwing money at the problem and building more toilets.

We ve seen that this approach doesn t work, resulting in wasted investment and greater challenges for the world s poorest, she said. Our goal at Water for People is to ensure every family, school and clinic has sustainable access to an adequate toilet and that means a toilet that continues to work.

Officially observing World Toilet Day is a great step toward making sanitation a priority on the global agenda, Pfister noted.

And while it helps to raise awareness and funds, we must also demand more effective solutions that result in lasting impact, she said.  We must change the way aid is spent and hold U.N. agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and governments accountable for their work intervening in people s lives.

Projecting into the future, Neo told IPS there is insufficient time left to achieve the MDG target on sanitation by 2015. At the current rate of progress, he pointed out, there will still be 936 million people practicising open defecation in 2015.

Therefore it is important that sanitation features prominently in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda that follows MDGs.

Economically, Neo said, poor sanitation costs countries 0.5 to 7.0 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP), while the gains globally from investing in sanitation amount to about 260 billion dollars annually.

WaterAid Chief Executive Barbara Frost told IPS that at the turn of the millennium, world leaders promised to halve the proportion of people living without access to a basic toilet by 2015. At current rates of progress, around half a billion people will have to wait another decade before they get this basic service they were promised.

We can and should be doing better [because] it is basic services we are talking about that can transform lives, she said.

 

Related Posts

Get a job- Google is looking to hire a Graphics Engineer

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Graphics EngineerGoogle

Location: Mountain View, CA

Google is not a conventional company, and we don’t intend to become one. True, we share attributes with the world’s most successful organizations – a focus on innovation and smart business practices comes to mind – but even as we continue to…

Get a job- Heart Machine is hiring a Gameplay Engineer

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Gameplay Engineer, Heart Machine

Location: Culver City, California Come from South African Online Casinos

Heart Machine is a small, deeply motivated and close-knit team located in Los Angeles. Our focus is gameplay that’s engaging, fluid an…

Get a job- Hi-Rez Studios seeks a Character Rigger

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Character RiggerHi-Rez Studios

Location: Alpharetta, GA

Hi-Rez Studios is immediately hiring a qualified character rigger to work at our studio in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Come join the creator of the critically acclaimed Smite,

Experimental Gameplay Workshop returns to GDC 2014 with star lineup

With less than two weeks remaining before the Game Developers Conference 2014, show organizers are detailing the lineup of the ever-popular Experimental Gameplay Workshop, which returns to GDC for its 12th year. This jam-packed two-hour session — which takes place Friday, March 21 at 2:30pm in Room 135 of the San Francisco Moscone Center's North Hall — will showcase an eclectic mix of unusual game prototypes that defy convention and explore new ideas and genres. This year the EGW is curated and organized by leading creators Robin Hunicke and Daniel Benmergui, and it promises to be an exciting opportunity for presenters and attendees alike to explore some fresh territory in game design. A number of 'experimental' …

Black Ops 6 Reveal Trailer Provides First Glimpse At 2024's Call Of Duty

The first trailer for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is out now. The trailer doesn’t show any footage, but is instead a live-action mood piece that features a number of real-world political leaders, including Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Margaret Thatcher, and Saddam Hussein.

The trailer’s thumbnail also contains coordinates that point to the location of Hussein’s palace. The game seems be themed around questioning the government’s version of facts. “If it’s the truth you seek, look in the dark,” reads a line from the trailer’s description. Take a look at the trailer below.

Balatro Hits Big Sales Milestone After Being Showered With Awards

Developer Localthunk has revealed that Balatro has recently passed the 5 million sales milestone across all platforms. Come from South African Online Casinos

“The last few weeks have been pretty wild. To everyone who picked up Balatro after seeing it at The Game Awards, we hope you’re having an amazing time with it,” the developer said on Twitter. “If this is your first time picking up an indie title, try to make it a habit!”

According to Balatro’s publisher, Playstack, the 5 million mark doesn’t include downloads from Apple Arcade. Additionally, the game was sitting at 3.5 million copies sold at the first week of December, indicating that it received a boost in exposure after being nominated as a Game of t…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *