5 figures on access to sanitary facilities

For the ninth consecutive year, the World Toilet Day established by the UN every November 19 aims to raise awareness of the difficulties of access to adapted toilets. Beyond a question of comfort, the lack of access to sanitary facilities has harmful consequences on health and the preservation of the environment.

This year, the theme chosen, “Making the invisible visible”, aims to highlight the issue of groundwater sanitation, polluted by human waste. A considerable public health issue since groundwater makes up 99% of all liquid aquifer resources on the planet and provides half of all the water withdrawn for domestic use.

► 3.6 billion people without access to safe toilets

Nearly half of the world’s population does not have a toilet at home or access to a properly managed sanitation system, or 3.6 billion people, according to the United Nations. Inadequate sanitation systems lead to the pollution of soils, rivers and lakes by human waste which spreads there and degrades water resources.

► 2 billion people consume contaminated water

At least 2 billion people consume water contaminated with faeces worldwide. Without toilets connected to sewage systems that treat and dispose of human waste, it flows into groundwater. However, they represent the first source of water, for the distribution of drinking water but also for agricultural and industrial uses.

According to the UN, in 2022 groundwater will provide half of all water withdrawn for domestic use, including drinking water for the vast majority of the rural population.

► 494 million people still defecate in the open

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly half a billion people still defecated in the open in 2021. This human waste has considerable environmental and health consequences since it contaminates the environment and water. , favoring the development of diseases such as diarrhea.

The situation is particularly worrying in Chad, Mali, Niger, Sierra Leone and Somalia, where more than 50% of the population does not have access to sanitation. In addition, the lack of sanitation facilities affects the health of women and girls, increasing “considerably the risks of abuse and sexual violence”as pointed out by the NGO Oxfam in a 2021 report.

► 800 child deaths every day

Every day, more than 800 children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea caused by drinking unsafe water, insufficient sanitation and poor hygiene, according to the WHO.

A third of schools in the world do not have toilets, especially in sub-Saharan Africa or Southeast Asia. In addition, 900 million schoolchildren lack access to handwashing facilities, which contributes to the spread of deadly diseases.

► UN Sustainable Development Goal 6.2

The sixth of the Sustainable Development Goals, a program adopted in 2015 by the UN, aims to “guarantee access to water for all”. Paragraph 2 emphasizes the need to ensure “access for all, under equitable conditions, to adequate sanitation and hygiene services and ending open defecation, paying particular attention to the needs of women and girls and people in vulnerable situations”.

Sanitation has been recognized as a human right by the international organization. To achieve the goal of universal access to toilets by 2030, the UN urges decision-makers and political leaders to “quadruple their efforts if they want to respect their commitment”.

On the occasion of World Toilet Day, four-meter-high inflatable toilets were installed in Geneva in front of the United Nations building on Friday November 18 to encourage passers-by to take pictures of themselves in front and post them on the social networks with the hashtag #WorldToiletDay.