19 November 2018 is World Toilet Day (SDG 6)

Many of us take it for granted that everyone in the world needs a decent toilet to take care of business after eating thus many would ask why the world needs a toilet day.

An appraisal of the toilet value chain maybe able to unlock and expose the ecosystem around the very act of defeacating in a decent toilet. One may argue that out of a toilet comes jobs, energy, health and many other desirable human development variables. One of the world’s richest man, Bill Gates has taken a keen interest in toilets to the extent of sharing the stage with a beaker full of poop and drinking water that had been purified from toilet waste. He explains why the world needs a better toilet.

If the United Nations sees it fit to have a World Toilet Day, then there must be something around this. In my bid to understand the UN’s fascination with excrement I consulted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to see if its one of them.I stumbled onto SDG 6.

Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.

Clean, accessible water for all is an essential part of the world we want to live in and there is sufficient fresh water on the planet to achieve this. However, due to bad economics or poor infrastructure, millions of people including children die every year from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation and hygiene.

Water scarcity, poor water quality and inadequate sanitation negatively impact food security, livelihood choices and educational opportunities for poor families across the world. At the current time, more than 2 billion people are living with the risk of reduced access to freshwater resources and by 2050, at least one in four people is likely to live in a country affected by chronic or recurring shortages of fresh water. Drought in specific afflicts some of the world’s poorest countries, worsening hunger and malnutrition. Fortunately, there has been great progress made in the past decade regarding drinking sources and sanitation, whereby over 90% of the world’s population now has access to improved sources of drinking water.

To improve sanitation and access to drinking water, there needs to be increased investment in management of freshwater ecosystems and sanitation facilities on a local level in several developing countries within Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, Southern Asia, Eastern Asia and South-Eastern Asia.

Facts and Figures

3 in 10 people lack access to safely managed drinking water services and 6 in 10 people lack access to safely managed sanitation facilities.
At least 892 million people continue to practice open defecation.
Women and girls are responsible for water collection in 80 per cent of households without access to water on premises.
Between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of the global population using an improved drinking water source has increased from 76 per cent to 90 per cent
Water scarcity affects more than 40 per cent of the global population and is projected to rise. Over 1.7 billion people are currently living in river basins where water use exceeds recharge.
4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation services, such as toilets or latrines
More than 80 per cent of wastewater resulting from human activities is discharged into rivers or sea without any pollution removal
Each day, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrheal diseases
Approximately 70 per cent of all water abstracted from rivers, lakes and aquifers is used for irrigation
Floods and other water-related disasters account for 70 per cent of all deaths related to natural disasters

Goal 6 Targets

By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity

By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate

By 2020, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes

By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity-building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies