To get the nation talking about toilets, WaterAid India organised a ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Poo’ music concert by popular folk-rock band Indian Ocean band on November 19 in Nehru Park, New Delhi, this World Toilet Day.
ED was proud to partner with them for this amazing cause.
We were present there, and not only was the purpose of this concert worth it, but even the entire event.
Starting with the stand up comedian Vikramjit Singh’s performance, to the ever mesmerising Indian Ocean, to the most amazing onset-of-winter weather of Delhi, to the beautiful location of Nehru Park, WaterAid India did a truly commendable job of bringing the open defacation issue to notice, in a very entertaining manner.
Coming to the issue of sanitation, toilets and open defecation at hand, a new report shows which countries in the world have the worst rates of access to safe, private toilets.
The world’s youngest country, South Sudan, has the worst household access to sanitation in the world, followed closely by Niger, Togo and Madagascar the report reveals.
The report highlights the plight of more than 2.3 billion people in the world who do not have access to a safe, private toilet.
Of these, nearly 1 billion have no choice but to defecate in the open – in fields, at roadsides or in bushes.
The result is a polluted environment in which diseases spread fast.
An estimated 314,000 children under five die each year of diarrhoeal illness which could be prevented with safe water, good sanitation and good hygiene.
India now has 60.4% of its people without access to safe, private toilets.
Among the report’s other findings:
- India, the world’s second-most populous country, holds the record for the most people waiting for sanitation (774 million) and the most people per square kilometre (173) practising open defecation.
- The tiny South Pacific island of Tokelau has made the most progress on delivering sanitation since 1990; impressively, Nepal, despite the immense challenges posed by its mountainous landscape, comes in the top 4 in this category.
- Nigeria has seen a dramatic slide in the number of people who have access to toilets since 1990.
- Not everyone in the developed world has toilets. Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden are among nations with measurable numbers still without safe, private household toilets; Russia has the lowest percentage of household toilets of all developed nations.
For more information, visit www.wateraidIndia.in, follow @WaterAidIndia on Twitter, or visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/WaterAidIndia.
