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We can't wait. A report on sanitation and hygiene for women and girls [World Toilet Day Advocacy Report]

Author(s): Unilever Domestos  |  WaterAid  |  Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)

Publisher: WaterAid I WSSCC I Unilever
Year: 2013

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The challenge of achieving target 7 of the Millennium Development Goals - to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation - and MDG 4 - to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirs – could be met by sustained partnerships between governments, businesses, NGOs and communities.Significant progress has been made towards achieving thes targets. Since 1990, almost 1.9 billion more people now have access to improved sanitation. But this is not enough. If progress continues at the current rate the global community will not meet MDG 7C by 2015. There are still 45 countries in the world where less than half of the population has access to adequate sanitation facilities. Around 700,000 children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. That’s almost 2,000 children a day. Poor sanitation has significant impacts on the safet, well-being and educational prospects of women. Girls’ lack of access to a clean, safe toilet, especially during menstruation, perpetuates risk, shame and fear. This has long-term impacts on women’s health, education, livelihoods and safety but it also impacts the economy, as failing to provide for the sanitation needs of women ultimately risks excluding half of the potential workforce. To extend the reach of sanitation programmes as we move towards 2015, the United Nations Secretary General’s High Level Panel has recommended that global partnerships between the public and private sectors be considered of central importance. In his speech during the opening of Budapest Water Summit in October 2013, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, stated that sanitation is one of the three areas critical to sustainable development where more cooperation is needed. Pooling the resources and skills of governments, NGOs and businesses will help to ensure that programmes can be scaled up.Improving sanitation is high on the agenda of the United Nations, civil society and many corporates and businesses. Where there is a strong business case for the private organisations involved, long-term commercial support can be relied upon to ensure that great numbers of people affected by poor sanitation can be reached Population growth will only make it more difficult to achie targets on access to basic sanitation. The UN’s recognition of World Toilet Day this year sends out a clear message: the international response to the sanitation crisis needs to be immediate, sustained and collaborative. Working together, Unilever Domestos, WaterAid and WSSCC recommend that:•  Governments make strengthening the sanitation sector and bringing the MDG target back on track an immediate and urgent political priority.•  Governments (of both developing and donor countries) across the world keep their promises and implement the commitments made at national level, regional level (AfricaSan4, SACOSAN5) and global level (Sanitation and Water for All6). Furthermore, they must significantly increase financial resourc to the sector, use these resources wisely and ensure that the most marginalised and vulnerable people are targeted. •  The post-2015 development framework must have a clear focus on eradicating extreme poverty by 2030, and UN Member States are urged to consider  a dedicated goal on water and sanitation that sets ambitious targets to achieve universal access to water, sanitation and hygiene so that:   – No-one practises open defecation.  – Everyone has safe water, sanitation and hygiene at home.  –  All schools and health facilities have safe water, sanitation and hygiene.  –  Water, sanitation and hygiene are sustainable and inequalities in access have been progressively eliminated.•  Sanitation should be integrated into education policy supported by sufficient resources and concrete plans tensure that:   –  All schools have adequate sanitation facilities including hand washing facilities and separate toilets for boys and girls with access for students with disabilities.   –  Specific provision is made at school for establishing prope menstrual hygiene management facilities.   –  Hygiene promotion is featured as an important part of the school curriculum from primary level.•  The role for public private partnerships in addressing the sanitation crisis has been formally recognised. More actors in the private sector must realise the social and business opportunities and invest in social development. More frequent and cross-sector collaboration is essential to achieving real progress.And we must help break the taboo to get the world talking about this urgent and devastating issue, #wecantwait.

Keywords:
Child health  |  Education  |  Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM)  |  Sanitation  |  www