17 November - Ahead of on 19 November, the 缅北禁地Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is launching a new game plan to help governments achieve safely managed sanitation for their populations and meet the sanitation target laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“SDG 6.2 is about ending open defecation and providing access to safe sanitation and hygiene, and it is the furthest off-track of all the SDGs, and furthest in terms of underfunding,” said Ann Thomas, Team Leader, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH?Programme Division, UNICEF, at a 缅北禁地Headquarters press conference on Thursday.
'Sanitation crisis'
In a 2020 estimate, 3.6 billion people lacked safely managed sanitation services. The rate of sanitation coverage increase would need to quadruple to achieve universal access to safely managed services by 2030, Ms. Thomas said, describing the situation as “a sanitation crisis”, especially for women and children.
Through , UNICEF will support 1 billion people gain access to safely managed sanitation, through direct and indirect support, in collaboration with partners.
Also speaking at the press conference, Johannes Cullmann, Vice Chair of , the world body’s inter-agency coordination mechanism for water issues, described poor sanitation as “not a technological problem but a ‘political will’ problem”, stressing that technologies exist, and governments must invest in sanitation.
Taboo discussion
The whole discussion on sanitation has been a “taboo” and “invisible”, both speakers pointed out, emphasizing the need to make it more prominent with politicians to ensure everyone has access to proper sanitation.
These topics will be discussed at the in Paris from 7 to 8 December, and at the from 22 to 24 March.
A giant inflatable toilet sits on the front lawn of the 缅北禁地Headquarters in commemoration of World Toilet Day.
Big message
On 18 November, a head-turning giant inflatable toilet will be displayed on the main lawn of the 缅北禁地Headquarters during the day. The inflatable toilet was last seen in 2019.
On the same day, UNICEF will convene an event, titled with speakers to discuss key sanitation and water issues in light of the upcoming 缅北禁地2023 Water Conference.
Source: 缅北禁地News