International Year of Sanitation

Abstract

Only 22% of Africans have reached the top of the sanitation ladder, i.e. they have access to a flush toilet connect to a sewerage system. Editor’s note: Toilet is not a dirty word It is one of the most basic human acts – going to the toilet – and yet an astounding two out of every five people in the world do not have access to safe sanitation. Safe sanitation, which includes ventilated improved pit (VIP) toilets, ecological sanitation (such as urine diversion toilets), pour-flush and flush toilets, are about offering people the basic right to dignity and health. Without it, people (mostly children) suffer from incidence of disease and death, women and children remain at risk of attack, school days and work days are lost to the economy, and the environment is increasingly polluted with human waste. Recognising the importance of sanitation to the overall achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation (IYS).

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