This blog originally appeared on PSI’s Impact Blog.
“Initially, many people tried to discourage me by saying that [plumbing] was a job for men,” Ayé Judith Bodou explains. “But I didn’t give up.”
World Toilet Day (WTD) is an annual global event organized by UN Water to raise awareness of the crucial role that sanitation plays in reducing disease and creating healthier communities. WTD falls every year on November 19. The theme of WTD 2019 is "Toilets For All," which means leaving no one behind as the world strives to achieve universal access to sanitation.
We have been using the same toilet system for the past 200 years. The sewer system is safe and clean, but also resource intensive, and many countries cannot afford the water and energy needed. Can there be a new solution? That is the ambition of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) project committee 305 that is working to define a standard for a new type of toilet, which could help meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 on safe sanitation for all.
Since 2016, USAID/Ghana, through its WASH For Health program, has been working with 35 local Rotary clubs and governmental agencies to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions for more than 75,000 people, by 2020, as part of the Rotary–USAID public-private partnership.
The 'Female-friendly guide', published in October 2018 and written by WaterAid, UNICEF and WSUP, is designed primarily for use by local authorities in towns and cities who are in charge of public and community toilets. It's also useful for national governments, public and private service providers, NGOs, donors and civil society organisations who play a role in delivering these services.
This thought piece from the Toilet Board Coalition, in partnership with the Pune Municipal Corporation & Pune Smart City, India, discusses Smart Sanitation Cities and the opportunity they present to design future sanitation systems leveraging Smart City growth trends to address the global sanitation crisis.
Sanitation is critical to the well-being of all citizens within a city. Through this video series, sustainable examples of waste management are shown from around the world. Considering the whole service chain, from the toilet to waste treatment and reuse, these examples showcase a number of ecological models that have been successfully implemented. Check out the other videos in this series for more detailed descriptions on these unique systems.
November 19 marks World Toilet Day, an annual global event organized by UN Water to raise awareness of the crucial role that sanitation plays in reducing disease and creating healthier communities.
The theme of this year's observance is "Nature-Based Solutions" to harness the power of ecosystems to tackle the sanitation and water crisis. Nature-based solutions include:
Water Currents is produced biweekly by USAID’s E3 Water Office. Each issue contains recent news and articles on water sector issues, partner and donor updates, latest sector research, and a special focus on one topic. Please provide your feedback and suggestions by contacting the waterteam@usaid.gov.
