Globally, 4.5 billion people live without access to safely managed sanitation – in other words, a toilet connected to a sewer or pit or septic tank that treats human waste.
Today, on World Toilet Day, 19 November, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) reaffirms everyone's right to a safe and accessible toilet.
Exposure to human faeces has a devastating impact on public health, nutrition, education, living conditions, the ecosystem and economic productivity across the world.
World Toilet Day is about taking action to ensure that everyone has a safe toilet by 2030, a key target under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: sanitation and water for all.
This year's theme, When Nature Calls, is about toilets and nature. When nature calls, we need a toilet. But, billions of people don't have one.
On World Toilet Day, DFAT together with partners from the new Water for Women Fund encourage everyone to think about toilets and how important they are to individual and community wellbeing and prosperity.
The Australian Government is committed to delivering effective and sustainable long term water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities and programs underpinned by gender equality and social inclusion.
Through Australia's new flagship Water for Women Fund, civil society organsations will deliver 19 WASH projects in 16 countries in the Indo-Pacific region. Australia is investing AUD$110.6 million over five years to improve access to safe and affordable water, and improve sanitation and hygiene practices. Through this program we have plenty to highlight when it comes to safely managed sanitation. To find out more see links below.
The Water for Women Fund follows on from the Civil Society WASH Fund (CS WASH Fund), which concluded in mid-2018. The CS WASH Fund improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene services for over 5.3 million people in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. This included providing more than 2.7 million people in these regions with access to improved sanitation. Over 1,600 communities were also declared Open Defecation Free.
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