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World Water Day 2008

"The humble toilet can dramatically cut child deaths and generate economic growth" says the UN

In advance of World Water Day, the UN calls for increased commitment to tackling the international sanitation crisis

New York - Access to a clean and safe toilet and hygiene education could cut child deaths from diarrhoea by two thirds and could generate US$66 billion-worth of economic benefits, said the United Nations today ahead of World Water Day on 22 March, as it called for increased commitment to tackling the global sanitation crisis.

The theme of World Water Day this year is sanitation in support of the International Year of Sanitation 2008, as the lack of decent toilets and the contamination this causes is a root cause of unsafe water.

Over 2.6 billion people or 41 percent of the global population have no access to improved sanitation services. ‘No access’ is a polite way of saying that 5,000 children under five die every day from diarrhoea for lack of a decent toilet and hygiene, that girls are forced to stay home from school rather than risk indignity and sexual harassment without private latrines, and that raw sewage flows directly into streams, rivers and lakes, fouling the environment and exposing billions of people to disease.

There is powerful evidence to show how the humble toilet can drive human development, poverty reduction and women’s equality. For example, improved sanitation alone can reduce diarrhoea-related morbidity by more than one third or by two thirds when combined with hygiene awareness and behaviour changes like washing hands. In Peru, simply installing a flush toilet in the home increases by almost 60 percent a Peruvian child’s chances of surviving to her first birthday.

Providing private and separate sanitary latrines in schools can increase girl’s enrolment by 11 per cent, while for every 1 percent increase in female literacy due to this increased school attendance, a country’s economy is shown to grow by 0.3 percent.

Research also shows that the economic return of every $1 invested in sanitation is $9.1, while an estimated $66 billion-worth of annual economic benefits could be generated through productivity and school days gained, illness and death averted and savings in related medical expenses, if the proportion of people without access to sanitation is halved by 2015. This is one of the key targets set out in the Millennium Development Goals, eight time-bound and interdependent development goals to which all world leaders signed up in 2000.

Speaking on behalf of UN-Water, Olav Kjorven, UN Assistant Secretary General and Director of Policy for the United Nations Development Programme, drew attention to the crisis in advance of a New York-based UN-Water event, designed to demonstrate why the restroom is the most important room in the house.

“It is about time to break the taboo of talking about toilets. HIV/AIDS campaigners struggled with crippling stigma for decades before it became acceptable to openly highlight the extent and impact of the pandemic.

“We now need to make the same progress on sanitation because it is critical for human development, and being ‘polite’ means that 5,000 children around the world will continue to die from diarrhoea each day because they don’t have access to a decent toilet and clean water, which go hand in hand. That’s like ten jumbo jets full of children crashing every day,” he said.

The New York event, entitled ‘Stand up for those who can’t sit down’, features the UN-Water supported German Toilet Organisation exhibit, designed to offer the public an insight into what life would be like we all lacked somewhere private and safe to go. More information on this event is available here: www.undp.org/water

About UNDP: UNDP is the UN's global network to help people meet their development needs and build a better life. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working as a trusted partner with Governments, civil society and the private sector to help them build their own solutions to global and national development challenges.

About The International Year of Sanitation 2008 and UN-Water: The General Assembly (GA) declared 2008 the International Year of Sanitation (IYS) to accelerate progress for 2.6 billion people worldwide who are without improved sanitation facilities by promoting and giving momentum to sustainable sanitation and highlighting its contribution to the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals.

About UN-Water: UN Water is comprised of all the key UN organizations with a significant role to play in tackling the global water and sanitation crisis, assists the global community to get on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal 7 of ensuring environmental sustainability as it relates to water and sanitation.