World Toilet Day: Empower women and
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This year World Toilet Day - Sunday November 19 - focuses on waste water, continuing the theme of World Water Day. Inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis, this annual event is an important day on the calendar of Women for Water and its members. 4.5 billion people are living without a household toilet that safely disposes of waste. Women are disproportionally affected by this worldwide issue of inadequate sanitation facilities. All this often results in violence against women.
Obviously, water and toilets and women are very closely linked. No water to take away the waste and no clean water for washing your hands after going to the toilet, means no safe toilets or no toilets at all. 2.5 billion people don’t have access to adequate sanitation; and 1 billion still defecate in the open, a practice that has led to a significant number of diarrhea deaths among children under-five, among other health implications. (UNDP, 2015). Apart from the obvious health risk of having no toilets, women in many countries are raped when they defecate in the open. Too often we keep hearing stories from girls and women in the field telling they always go under cover of darkness, and never alone. Men lurk and watch, and worse.
Women, Water and Leadership
WfWP President Mariet Verhoef-Cohen is also president of WfWP member Soroptimists International and her 2017-2019 President's appeal will empower women to be self-supporting through implementing water projects. Including projects for providing safe sanitation, i.e. toilets. Women should figure more prominently in water management. Their expertise, if harnessed through education and empowerment, could position more women as successful leaders. “Access to adequate and inequitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation“ was adopted as a target of SDG 6.
Watch below video and learn more here
Obviously, water and toilets and women are very closely linked. No water to take away the waste and no clean water for washing your hands after going to the toilet, means no safe toilets or no toilets at all. 2.5 billion people don’t have access to adequate sanitation; and 1 billion still defecate in the open, a practice that has led to a significant number of diarrhea deaths among children under-five, among other health implications. (UNDP, 2015). Apart from the obvious health risk of having no toilets, women in many countries are raped when they defecate in the open. Too often we keep hearing stories from girls and women in the field telling they always go under cover of darkness, and never alone. Men lurk and watch, and worse.
Women, Water and Leadership
WfWP President Mariet Verhoef-Cohen is also president of WfWP member Soroptimists International and her 2017-2019 President's appeal will empower women to be self-supporting through implementing water projects. Including projects for providing safe sanitation, i.e. toilets. Women should figure more prominently in water management. Their expertise, if harnessed through education and empowerment, could position more women as successful leaders. “Access to adequate and inequitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation“ was adopted as a target of SDG 6.
Watch below video and learn more here
