Take poo to the loo [1]
Thursday, November 20, 2014 - 23:22
The Pacific is tied with the Sub- Saharan Africa region as having the lowest level of improved sanitation coverage in the world, it was noted yesterday, 19 November, on the United Nation's second "World Toilet Day".
The theme for the 2014 World Toilet Day is ‘Equality and Dignity’. This year's theme is believed will inspire action to end open defecation and "put a spotlight on how access to improved sanitation leads to a reduction in assault and violence against women and girls."
It is the second year that the UN has declared 19 November as the World Toilet Day, though the World Toilet Day was initiated by the World Toilet Organization, which was founded by a Singaporean entrepreneur, Jack Sim in 2001.
According to an UN report that was released to mark the occasion, some 2.5 billion people worldwide do not have adequate toilets and among them 1 billion defecate in the open – in fields, bushes, or bodies of water – putting them, and especially children, in danger of diseases such as diarrhoea. In 2013 more than 340,000 children under five died from diarrhoeal diseases due to a lack of safe water, sanitation and basic hygiene – an average of almost 1,000 deaths per day.
“Lack of sanitation is a reliable marker of how the poorest in a country are faring,” said Sanjay Wijesekera, head of UNICEF’s global water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programmes. “But although it is the poor who overwhelmingly do not have toilets, everyone suffers from the contaminating effects of open defecation, so everyone should have a sense of urgency about addressing this problem.” UNICEF's Take Poo to the Loo campaign in India has raised awareness of the dangers associated with open defecation.
Pacific
UNICEF Pacific Representative, Dr. Karen Allen said “In the Pacific open defecation rates are high especially in Kiribati (37%) and Solomon Islands (18%).”
“The challenge of open defecation is one of both equity and dignity, and very often of safety as well, particularly for women and girls,” Wijesekera noted. “They have to wait until dark to relieve themselves, putting them in danger of attack, and worse, as we have seen recently.”
In terms of sanitation coverage, there has been very little progress (1% increase in improved sanitation coverage) in the Pacific since 1990. This rate of progress is slower than any other region in the world. At 30 per cent, the Pacific is tied with the Sub- Saharan Africa region as having the lowest level of improved sanitation coverage in the world.
Open pit toilets are still used in Tonga, particularly in the rural areas, though community water supply is becoming the norm in most Tongan villages. With a reliable water supply, the use of flush toilet with a septic tank is also becoming the norm.