| 19 November — World Toilet Day |  |
| News Waterfall - News Waterfall #7 | |
| Monday, 10 December 2012 12:16 | |
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In 2001 World toilet organization (WTO) declared 19th November World Toilet Day (WTD). This year it was organized in over 19 countries with over 51 events being hosted by various water and sanitation advocates. World Toilet Organization created WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation. WTD also brings to the forefront the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endure as a result of inadequate sanitation. A staggering 2.5 billion people — that’s one in every three people worldwide — do not have access to a clean toilet. Around 1.1 billion people are forced to defecate and urinate in the open. The resulting contaminated water leads to diarrheal diseases, which kill more young children in the developing world than HIV/AIDS, malaria and measles combined. There is also a big loss of costs associated with poor sanitation. The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program reported that per year, poor sanitation costs India nearly three trillion rupees ($53.8 billion), East Asia around 88.5 trillion Indonesian rupiah ($9.2 billion) and Kenya around 27.7 billion shillings ($324 million). These astounding price tags reflect the increased costs for providing health care and accessing potable water (both for households and agricultural purposes) and the related decrease in tourism dollars, since places with poor sanitation are less attractive to travellers. The World Health Organization finds that investing just $1 in improved sanitation yields an economic return of between $3 and $34 depending on which part of the world you are in. As part of World Toilet Day, the World Toilet Organization is circulating a petition for the United Nations to “keep its promises” on improving sanitation and clean water. The petition will be given to the UN during the 2013 Millennium Development Goals Summit in September 2013. To bring together non-profit organizations, government bodies, academia and other industry players to address the sanitation crisis WTD annually organizes World Toilet Summits. The Exposition is one of the most important compositions of the Annual World Toilet Summit. First held in November 2001, the summit has been held in Singapore, Korea, North Ireland, Russia, Thailand, India, America, Beijing, Shanghai, Taipei and Macao. The 12th World Toilet Summit, the 1st for Africa, will be held on 4–6 December 2012 in Durban, South Africa. “Eliminating inequalities can start in the most unlikely of places: a toilet,” said the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque, on World Toilet Day. “Access to sanitation facilities around the world, more than any other service, provides a window into the vast difference between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots.’” More information about World Water Day:
Read more:
about World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program
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