South Asia conference to address sanitation

The majority of people in South Asia still face the indignity of open defecation and governments need to ensure that their sanitation programmes address this crisis and help reduce poverty, disease and unnecessary deaths in the region, a report by WaterAid says.

The report �Total sanitation in South Asia� has been prepared for the second South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN), to be held in Islamabad from 20 � 21 September 2006. WaterAid and its partner organizations in South Asia will be participating along with government ministers, donors and civil society groups from across the region. The goal of the Conference is to speed up the progress of sanitation work in South Asia so as to achieve the target of halving the proportion of people without access to sanitation by 2015, set out in the Millennium Development Goals.

WaterAid�s report warns that unless more is done to reach the poorest and most vulnerable, to increase levels of investment and to tackle the increasing needs for urban sanitation this goal will not be achieved. Sanitation programmes need to go beyond the provision of latrines and ensure that all people � regardless of age, caste, gender, disability - live in a healthy environment and adopt safe hygiene practices.

The current situation is critical. 76% of the population in rural South Asia do not have access to hygienic toilets and in urban areas the figure is 34%. The practice of open defecation is widespread, and this contributes to a world where diarrhoea alone is responsible for the deaths of 1.8 million children under five each year.

WaterAid�s Regional Advocacy and Policy Advisor for Asia, James Wicken, says �Millions of people in Asia face the daily reality of finding somewhere outside to go to the toilet. SACOSAN is the most encouraging mechanism we have for tackling this indignity. We will be calling on governments to ensure that they target the poorest and hardest to reach, to give more and better aid to sanitation, and to open their eyes to the looming sanitation crisis which will be inevitable unless something is done. Finally yet crucially, we will be trying to instill a sense of urgency.�

The first SACOSAN, held in Bangladesh in 2003, resulted in ministers signing a declaration to increase progress in sanitation and hygiene, and it is hoped that the 2006 meeting will bring similar advances in government policy and implementation.

There are four more SACOSANs before 2015 � when the Millennium Development Goals are due to be met. The global sanitation target will not be realised without considerable progress in Asia. The consequence of missing the target would be the deaths of an additional 10 million children globally each year through lack of adequate sanitation.

To obtain a copy of the paper Total Sanitation in Asia; the challenges ahead, or to arrange interviews please contact Kate Watson on +44 (0) 207 793 4793 katewatson@wateraid.org

To download the report, visit www.wateraid.org/sacosan

User comments

"SOUTH ASIA OP/ED: Sanitation is critical issue"

Author: Muhammad Jahangir

Time: 20.09.2006 07:11

Comment: Open defication may be an issue in south asia, but for sure it is not the top one.
Sacosans have been talking of this.
Our real big issues are

1. Haveing an affordable domestic and industrial waste system
2. Treating domestic and industrial waste before throwing in fresh and ground water
3. Recycling solid waste
4. Recycling plastic shoppers
5. Banning and phasing out of plastic bags
6. handling hospital wastes
7. basic hygeinic awreness like washing hands with soap.

I beleive we need to start from the base, we are NOT treating domestic and industrial waste , simply because we donot know how to do it affordably.

Rgds
M Jahangir
Islamabad
Place and date of Sacosan 2 Meeting today.