Press Release: Lack of Toilets Dangerous For Everyone, UNICEF Says

PRESS RELEASE
Lack of toilets dangerous for everyone, UNICEF says

NEW YORK, 19 November 2014 Slow progress on sanitation and the entrenched practice of
open defecation among millions around the world continue to put children and their communities
at risk, UNICEF warned on World Toilet Day.
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 deadly faecal-oral diseases like 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 UNICEFs 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.
The call to end the practice of open defecation is being made with growing insistence as the links
with childhood stunting become clearer. India, with 597 million (half the population) practising
open defecation, also has high levels of stunting. Last week, UNICEF convened a conference in
New Delhi called Stop Stunting to call attention to the effect of open defecation on the entire
population, particularly children. UNICEFs Take Poo to the Loo campaign in India also works to
raise awareness of the dangers associated with open defecation.
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 May, the hanging of two teenage girls in Uttar Pradesh who had gone out after dark to defecate
caused international shock and dismay, and highlighted the security issues involved in open
defecation.
UNICEFs Community Approaches to Total Sanitation addresses the problem at the local level by
involving communities in devising solutions, and has led to some 26 million people across more
than 50 countries abandoning the practice of open defecation since 2008.
Eighty-two per cent of the 1 billion people practising open defecation live in just 10 countries:
India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Sudan, Niger, Nepal, China, and Mozambique. The
numbers of people practising open defecation are still rising in 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa,
though they have declined in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. In Nigeria, numbers of open
defecators increased from 23 million in 1990 to 39 million in 2012.
Globally, some 1.9 billion people have gained access to improved sanitation since 1990. However,
progress has not kept up with population growth and the Millennium Development Goal target on
sanitation is unlikely to be reached by 2015 at current rates of progress.
The inter-governmental Open Working Group on the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals
have recommended that the new goals include a target of achieving adequate and equitable
sanitation and hygiene for all and ending open defecation by 2030.
###
Note to Editors:
For more information about global levels of sanitation please see Progress on Drinking Water and
Sanitation 2014 Update
About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do. Together with our
partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical
action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the
benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit:
www.unicef.org.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
For further information please contact:
Rita Ann Wallace, UNICEF Media, Tel +1 212 326-7586, Mobile: +1 917 213-4034,
rwallace@unicef.org

Press Release: Lack of Toilets Dangerous For Everyone, UNICEF Says

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Press Release: Lack of Toilets Dangerous For Everyone, UNICEF Says

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Press Release: Lack of Toilets Dangerous For Everyone, UNICEF Says

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PRESS RELEASE

Lack of toilets dangerous for everyone, UNICEF says

You might also like